This letter is from our master, the scholar of his age, the imam of his time, the possessor of sciences and miracles, breaths and blessings, Sayyid Ibrāhīm al-Rashīd al-Duwayḥī, may Allah be pleased with him, sent to a student of his named Ismāʿīl. I do not know whether he is the well-known Sayyid Ismāʿīl al-Nawwāb, or another Ismāʿīl, for the handwriting I found reads: “Ismāʿīl al-Balyāb.”
And this is the letter:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
O Allah, send prayers, peace, and blessings upon our master Muḥammad, and upon his family and companions, at every glance and every breath, as many as is encompassed by the knowledge of Allah.
From the servant of his Lord, Ibrāhīm al-Rashīd, to whom the All-Praiseworthy, the All-Glorious has shown gentleness. To the respected, honored brother, the most noble, the most eminent, the most dignified, Shaykh Ismāʿīl al-Balyāb, may Allah preserve him. Āmīn.
To proceed:
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah, and His blessings. We inform you that your noble letter has arrived, and we have understood what it contains and all that it comprises.
Regarding the remembrances (adhkār) of the Path, that is, the path of our master Aḥmad ibn Idrīs, may Allah Most High be pleased with him, [they are]: the tahlīl, the ʿAẓīmiyya, and the Great Istighfār.
Some people said to our master Aḥmad, may Allah be pleased with him: “Guide me to what will make me quickest in reaching Allah Most High.” He replied: “Upon you is the tahlīl.”
Another asked him, and he said: “Upon you is the ʿAẓīmiyya, nothing surpasses it in precedence for reaching Allah, Glorified and Exalted, along with seeking forgiveness at the time of dawn (saḥar).”
And the tahlīl takes precedence over all else.
Intimacy (uns) comes according to one’s state and one’s time. Whatever opens the door and brings about an increase of states through these remembrances, one should increase in it.
As for the litanies (aḥzāb) and the Litany of the Sword (Ḥizb al-Sayf): you have permission to recite them. However, it is better first to increase in the tahlīl and the ʿAẓīmiyya, for the meanings of the litanies are not grasped except after spiritual openings (fatḥ).
As for the protective formulas (ḥuṣūn): the protections found within the litanies are to be used morning and evening.
As for the glorifications transmitted in the Sunnah: our master Aḥmad, may Allah be pleased with him, would point to the following:
• Subḥān Allāh wa bi-ḥamdih, one hundred times after the dawn prayer until sunrise, and after the afternoon prayer until sunset.
The reward for each hundred is one hundred thousand good deeds plus twenty-four thousand good deeds, the number of the prophets and messengers, peace be upon them.
• Subḥān Allāh, al-ḥamdu li-llāh, lā ilāha illā Allāh, Allāhu akbar , likewise after dawn until sunrise, and after afternoon until sunset, one hundred times.
The reward for each hundred is as though one freed one hundred from the descendants of Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him), performed one hundred pilgrimages, offered one hundred sacrificial camels to Allah, and bridled one hundred horses in the path of Allah.
• If one adds: lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā bi-llāh al-ʿAliyy al-ʿAẓīm fī kulli lamḥatin wa nafasin ʿadada mā wasiʿahu ʿilmullāh, its reward is without measure.
The virtue mentioned for these remembrances is specifically before sunset and before sunrise; and when they are recited at those stated times, the reward is even greater, in accordance with the verse:
“And glorify the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting.”
• Subḥān Allāh wa bi-ḥamdih, astaghfiru Allāh innahu kāna tawwābā , seventy times in the morning only, after the dawn prayer; its reward is seven hundred good deeds.
Regarding what you mentioned about a disciple who received the remembrance from his shaykh, then abandoned love for his shaykh, or even left him entirely, and then returned: if he returns, he is accepted even without renewal, for “the one who repents from a sin is like one who has no sin.”
Regarding other litanies such as the musabbaʿāt and the like: they carry reward, but it is preferable to adhere consistently to the remembrances of one’s own shaykh, for in them lie the secret and the spiritual support (madad).
Regarding the annual commemoration (ḥawl): it is a practice of the people of the Ḥijāz. Every person performs such an act as charity for the deceased on the anniversary of his passing each year, and it is done only for the most beloved of people to him. And there is none more beloved to us than our master Aḥmad ibn Idrīs, may Allah be pleased with him.
As for its virtue, for the one who performs it, assists in it, causes it, and attends it, this is beyond enumeration; it cannot be contained in ledgers, nor encompassed by intellects; nothing can encompass it except faith in Allah Most High.
The one who undertakes it holds the upper hand with our master Aḥmad ibn Idrīs, may Allah be pleased with him, for the people of Allah are people of magnanimity and generosity: they repay those who show them kindness with multiplied returns, according to their rank.
“Whoever initiates a good practice will have its reward and the reward of all who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection.”
This much suffices. Strengthen yourselves in cooperation upon the Path, and in bringing people into it for the attainment of benefit for the Muslims. For the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, even the ant in its burrow and the fish in the sea, send blessings upon those who teach people goodness. The one who causes good is like the one who does it.
Convey our greetings to all who are encompassed by your noble station. Peace.
