Search This Blog

This is default featured slide 1 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by Lasantha Bandara - Premiumbloggertemplates.com.

This is default featured slide 2 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by Lasantha Bandara - Premiumbloggertemplates.com.

This is default featured slide 3 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by Lasantha Bandara - Premiumbloggertemplates.com.

This is default featured slide 4 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by Lasantha Bandara - Premiumbloggertemplates.com.

This is default featured slide 5 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.This theme is Bloggerized by Lasantha Bandara - Premiumbloggertemplates.com.

Future of Pakistan (Insha Allah)

English Translation: Qaseeda Shah Naimat!
By
Naimat Ullah Shah Wali R.A.
Source:
From Hafiz Muhammad Sarwar Nizami's Compilation
April 1972
-- Disclaimer --
The following is a literal translation.
Some sentences are little bit edited and paraphrased.
Translations of Quranic Verses are a literal English translation of the Urdu text.
In no way this translation is equal to the Actual and Authorized Translation of the Arabic Text.
In case of any disagreement, please refer to the Arabic text and its authorized English translation.
All 'History' footnotes (Explanation-Blue Numbering) are the commentary of the original compiler Mr. H.M. Sarwar Nizami
MC- My Commentary (Green Numbering - Just to explain some points)
Please ignore grammar and Spelling mistakes. All faults are mine.
I appreciate if someone translates it correctly.
If someone is willing, please download the original Urdu text from
--End disclaimer page--
(Read Translation Now)

Page-1: Title Page
 
Page-2 to Page-8 (of original urdu book)
PREFACE
Hafiz Muhammad Sarwar Nizami's
(Edited with best of Intentions)


My friends,
The above-mentioned words of God means that Indeed the friends of Allah are neither in fear nor in grief.
Fear results from not knowing the future and grief results from what happened in one's past... The glory of the friends of Allah is that neither they feel grief on past events nor are they afraid of the future because when they become friends of Allah, Allah becomes a friend of them.

... Difference between Wali and Walayat should be kept in mind. Walayat (Sainthood) is a position, a station that is assigned to a Wali (Saint). i.e. Wali has his own existence and Walayat has its own existence. Take an example of Ilm (knowledge) and A'alim (Scholar). A'alim is the one who has been given the knowledge. Similar is the relation in Nabuvat (Prophet hood) and Nabi (Prophet). Prophet is the one who has been assigned the station of Prophet hood.

Now please note the difference in the status / knowledge of Prophet hood and Sainthood.

Prophet (PBUM) said:

I've come to known whatever is in the skies and whatever is in the earths (worlds). I.e. I see the universe as I see my palm.
Whereas, Walayat said: Syedna Abdul-Qadir Jillani R.A said: I see the universe as I see a grain of rice on my palm.

Difference in both statements should be noted. The sayings of Prophet hood are like a plain palm whereas the sayings of Sainthood are like a grain on palm. When a grain of rice is placed on a palm, one dimension (down) out of six dimensions (left, right, front, back, up and down) is invisible to the eyes. Whereas, there is no dimension hidden on plain palm. Thus, where Sainthood reaches its top point (means where Sainthood reaches to top limit), there begins the Prophet hood. Similarly, where materialism reaches its top point (means where materialism reaches to top limit), there starts the Roohaniat (Spiritualism)
Let's ponder over the knowledge of Allah who is infinite and whose attributes are infinite. It is not possible that God who is infinite has limited attributes or God who is limited has infinite attributes.

God knows everything from the beginning. For Him everything is already known (Ma'loom - in information). Ilm (Knowledge) comes later. That is why friends of Allah say that Ma'loom is superior to Ilm. For a man, Ilm comes first and Ma'loom is secondary. For Allah, Ma'loom comes first and Ilm comes later.

Sheikh Akbar Muhayudin Al-Arabi states that information of Allah that were originated from the Nafs (soul?) of Allah granted knowledge to Allah. Because Allah is infinite, unique, One, unlimited and is not dependent on anyone, therefore He himself is A'alim. All Knowledge, All Information (whatever is there to know) and the Knower, all that 3 levels, belong to Allah who is infinite.
Holy Hadeeth is:

(In the beginning) There was nothing besides Allah. So when there was nothing with him (in the beginning), therefore there is nothing with him (now)... that is when there was nothing and only Allah existed, he knew everything. To him, there was nothing that was hidden (or unknown). He was Aleem (an attribute, meaning knower); he is Aleem and will remain Aleem. There is no restriction of past, present and future... neither he is bound by Time nor by space. (Similarly) his attributes are neither bound by time nor by space.
Allah says in Al-Quran:

Indeed Allah encompasses everything with Ilm.

His knowledge is pure and without any medium or source. Man through medium knows the knowledge of Smoke and Fire. By seeing the smoke, knowledge of man informs the man that there is a fire there. The existence of smoke denotes the existence of fire i.e. the knowledge of Fire is gained through the medium of smoke. Knowledge of Allah is pure and without a medium.
My friends,

Allah says in Quran:

We have stated everything openly. In Lohe-Mahfooz (The Tablet. The Akashic Records)

And Prophet Muhammad S.A.W (PBUH) said that Allah Ordered the Pen:


O Pen! Write down everything that is known to me and whatever is going to happen till the Day of Judgment. Allah ordered and the Pen obeyed.

Imam Hussain R.A. Said in "Meerat-ul-Aa'rifeen":



All praise to Allah who extracted (Ilm) from "Noon" (an alphabet) and wrote it in (through) the mouth of Pen.

Allah says in Al-Quran:

Let's understand it. Ink is the status of knowledge where all the information is hidden or a status where all alphabets, words, sayings and whatever is said is hidden but cannot be separated and everything is already known to the Self of God (or the soul of God) even the level of ink itself. Then all those information was described through the mouth of the pen and all those information were saved and separated in sentences. That is why we see in Hadeeth:

The first ever creation was my Noor (light). First ever creation was the Pen. First ever creation was the intellect (wisdom or intelligence).

All three levels, stations and attributes belong to one personality. i.e. Hazrat Muhammad S.A.W.
Allah took all three levels and swore that O Muhammad S.A.W., I sware of the station when you were at level of Ink, and I sware of the station when you were at the level of the Pen and I sware of the station when you were at the level of Sentence.

Note: Alphabets, Words, and what was said all three are located in a sentence.

Allama Iqbal said (Bal-e-Jibreel Poem: Read complete Poem Zauq-o-Shauq ):

Allah said:

We have openly described everything in Lohe-Mahfooz (Tablet, Akashic Record)

Jalaludin Rumi R.A. Said:

Lohe-Mahfooz is in front of friends of Allah (Walis). Whatever is written there is pure and without error.
Naimutullah Shah Wali r.a. was a great Wali of Allah. Knowledge of Jaffar (Alphabets, words, numerology) was his slave. It is a small miracle that 800-year-old predicted events are happening to the letter. Some sources suggest that he wrote more than 2000 poetic stanzas out of which the translator/author has 248 stanzas. Some stanzas are incomplete and singular.

He traveled through many cities to reach Kashmir. There, he passed away. He said:

Lord Curzon (Viceroy) banned this prediction stating: how it is possible that we only rule India for 100 years?
The stanzas of qaseeda are very rare now. The lovers of Awliya protected the stanzas. It is saved in manuscripts, and in memory.

Author thought about publishing the qaseeda for a long time. Now with the help of Man Ali Hassan, it will be published and the reader will enjoy it.

Please remember me in your prayers,
Hafiz Muhammad Sarwar Nizami, Layalpur (Now Faisalabad, Pakistan) - 1972

(Now The Predictions Part)

Page-9 - Family Tree of Mogal Empire (Mughal Dynasty)

Page-10
1. I am telling the truth, there will be a King in this world. Taimur his name and he will be the Conqueror.(l)
2. After Him, Meeran Shah appear in this world who will be the friend of the conqueror Taimur Shah.(2)
3. When he passes away from this world, and then will appear the King of Humans and Jinns (Ginns).(3)
4. After Him, Umer Sheikh will be the King and he'll be a claimer and a very Kind person.
5. After that, Umer Bin Sheikh will be the owner of this land and he'll indulge into a lot of riches and luxuries.

Page-11
6. After him shall come The King Babar who will be the king of Kabul, later he will appear in Delhi as a ruler of India.
7. After Sikandar [Lodhi], till the time of Ibrahim Shah (King), Behold there will be unrest and discord in his Kingdom.(4)
8. Then the God will appoint Humayun as the King of India but meanwhile an Afghan will appear.(5)

Page-12
9. Then God will grant kingdom to Humayun. Then will happen an incident in Humayun's life. Meanwhile an Afghan will appear. Afghan's name shall be Sher Shah. Humayun will run to the land of Iran, to the bloodline of the prophet so that they can honor humayun. The Iranian King will help Humayun so that Humayun can be honored as a King. By the time Humayun will attack India again, SherShah will be dead and his son will be ruling the land. (6)
10. So Humayun will conquer India. Then will come Akbar as the King of the land.(7)

Page-13
Explanation (In blue color numbering by H.M Sarwar Nizami himself as in urdu book) 
(1) History: Taimur Shah attacked India in 1398. Muhammad Tughlaq was the King of India at that time. After his defeat he fled and Taimur Shah got hold of India. He returned to Samarkand later. Died in 1412
(2) History: Meeran Shah = Sultan Muhammad Mirza
(3) History: That is Sultan Abu Saeed Mirza who was brave and Powerful.
(4) History: Ameer Taimur left his second-in-command Syed Khyzr Shah. He and 3 successors till Ala-ud-din were governors. From 1414 to 1451, this family of Syeds governed. Lodhi Family ruled from 1414-1451.
(5) History: Zaheer-uddin-Babar was from the fifth Generation of Taimur... Because of a dispute with Ibrahim Lodhi, Dolat Khan (the ruler of Punjab) and Rana Sanga (the ruler of Mewar) invited Babar to attack India. Babar saw it as an opportunity and he attacked India in 1526. After four unsuccessful attempts, he succeeded in the fifth. His Govt. was from 1526-1530
(6) History: Sher Shah was the son of a landlord called Hassan Khan. He was in service of the ruler of Bihar Province. Later he became ruler by force. Because of this act, Humayun attacked Sher Shah in 1540 but got defeated. Humayun fled to Iran. In 1545, with the aid of Iran, humayun conquered Kabul and Qandhar. Humayun conquered India by the year 1555.
(7) History: Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar Ruled India from 1556-1605
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11. Then Jahangeer shall be the King. He will sit on the Throne like the bright sun.(8)
12. When He will leave the world, Shah japan, The second Conqueror will appear.
13. Will rule for less than 40 years and his son will sit on the throne in front of his eyes.
14. There will be unrest and discord in his time and the country will be in bad conditions. Availability of Food will be surprising.
15. When the world will be like this, the people will be extremely worried. The Jupiter will be like a flame thrower
16. He will rule for 20 years till the youngest of his sons will appear.
17. His powerful voice will fill the world. He will take care of the people.(9)

Page-14
18. Then the God will show his decision. Know that his name will be Muazam. He will appear on the scene.(10)
19. During his time, the people will be united, peace shall be everywhere. He will be like an ointment to the wounds of the land.
20. He will rule for few years then pass away. His son will become King.(11)

Page-15
21. With his arrival, there will come balance. Unhappiness and jealousy will fade away. There will be happiness everywhere.
22. Then will come an extremely powerful king called Muhammad. will come to India and become ruler.(12)
23. The time of Muhammad's Kingship is 21 years. Then will come a ruler of the rulers.(13)
24. Nadir Shah will come from km. He will occupy the Throne of India by force. Mass killings of Delhi's population will occur.(14)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(8) History: Jahangeer Noor-ud-din Muhammad ruled from 1605-1627
(9) History: Shah-Japan Shahab-ud-din Muhammad ruled from 1627-1658. He had 2 sons. Dara-Shikoh and AurangZeb. There was discord and fighting in between them. The people were also divided in two camps. In 1650, there was a fearsome war in between AurangZeb and Dara. Dara fled and got defeated. AurangZeb continued the manhunt. Malik jeevan an (the ruler of Sindh) handed Dara over to AurangZeb. Dara was executed. AurangZeb Alamgeer Mohay-ud-din ruled from 1658-1707.
(10) History: Bahadur Shah Muazam ruled from 1707-1712.
(11) History: The son of Bahadur Shah Muazam was Farrukh Seer. Who ruled from 1712-1719
(12) History: Muhammad Shah ruled India from 1719-1740.
(13) History: Muhammad Shah ruled for exactly 21 years
(14) History: Nadir Shah attacked India in 1739. Nadir Shah used to be a herd-keeper by profession. He progressed and became the king of Iran. Later he conquered Kabul and Qandhar. Seeing a weak kingdomship of India, he attacked in 1739. Muhammad Shah was defeated and he asked for truce. Nadir Shah entered Delhi as a guest of Muhammad Shah. After few days, a rumor spread that Nadir Shah is murdered. So the soldiers of Delhi started killing the army of Nadir Shah. Nadir Shah got extremely angry and he ordered the Mass murder in Delhi. In 12 hours, approx. 150,000 people were murdered. At the request of Muhammad Shah, this mass murder was stopped. Looting and destruction continued for 2 months. Nadir Shah returned to Iran after getting Taoos (The Throne), Kohinoor Diamond and lot of treasure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page-16
25. When the ruler of India will about to leave this world to continue his journey forward, his family will be in problems.
26. Then will come mighty Ahmad the King. He will rule India and people will obey his orders.(15)

Page-17
27. When Akbar will be the King, there will appear a Saint.
28. His name would be NANAK. Populace will give attention to him. This powerful Fakeer [seer] will become famous.
29. He will be famous in Punjab and Sikh nation will be among his followers. He will be the spiritual leader of this nation.(16)
30. The Sikh Nation will be cruel towards Muslims and this cruelty and innovation will appear in 40 years.(17)

Page-18
31. Then The Christians [English] will occupy India. Their order will be obeyed there for about 100 years.(l8)
32. When the cruelty and one-sidedness will reach its highest point, the Christians will harm the religion.(l9)
33. The Christians [English] will be involved in a war with Germany. The sign of destruction and chaos will appear. (20)
34. The Christians (England) will win the war against Germany but the war will weaken their system of rule.

Page-19
35. The Christians will leave the India but before doing so, they will sow the life-taking discord among the populace.
36. India will be divided into two countries and for this reason the blood of humans will run. Destruction and anarchy will rule beyond imagination.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(15) History: After the death of Muhammad Shah (Rangeela), his son Ahmad Shah was the ruler for few years. All the ministers were parties in chaos and wars. Rohails revolted. To curb them, Ahmad Shah had to seek assistance of Marhatas. In 1752, Ahmad Shah Durram attacked Punjab. He was the victor. Punjab became a part of Durrani Empire. In 1758, one of the his ministers Ghazi-ud-din son of Asif jah (Nizam-ul-Mull, Ruler of Haiderabad Dakar) conspired against him, blinded him, and then Alm Shah aka Alamgeer the Second became the king. He ruled from 1759-1806. Akbar the Second ruled from 1806-1837 and Bahadur Shah Zafar the Second was the ruler from 1837-1857. There is no Stanza was found about them.
(16) History: Baba Guru Nanak was born in 1441 and died in 1528.
(17) Maybe 40 years period is after the death of Guru Nanak - Editor
(18) History: England ruled India for about 100 years. Lord Curzon (Viceroy of India) declared a ban (by law) on these predictions.
(19) History: During the reign of English a scholar called Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sowed the seeds of discord in the religion of Islam.
(20) History: WWI was from 1914-1918. After 21 years, WWII was fought from 1939-1945. Germany was involved in both the fights.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
37. A lot of Muslims will leave their homes due to the wrath of the Hindus. They will migrate. The dignity and honor of Muslims will be in ruins. Their women and girls will be kidnapped.
38. Muslims will be in peace in the area of their forefathers. After Punishment and problems, their destiny will appear.(21)

Page-20
39. The banner of Islam will be the prominent for 23 years. Then divine punishment will come upon them.
40. Their own land will become narrow for them. Destruction and anarchy will become their destiny.(22)
41. After their destruction. Allah will send blessings, victory and help from neighbors.(23)
42. An army of Mongols (24) will come from North to help. Iran and Turkey will help too.(25)

Page-21
43. This help will appear after the Pilgrimage.(26) When Allah will send the divine help from unknown.(27)
44. Divine help will turn the defeat into a victory. I am seeing all this with deep understanding. That Muslims will be the victor and successful.
45. When these predictions were made, it was the year 570 Hijra. So the God wills and will appear in the same manner. (28)

Page-22
46. When the cruelty and crime will be spread in his era, there will come a King of the west. He will be the real good administrator.(29)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(21) History: Pakistan got independence on August 14, 1947. The genocide, rape and kidnapping of girls and women is not a secret. The migrants sacrificed their lives and their wealth in order to get independence.
(22) History: Yahya an Ruled from March 1969-December 1971. East Pakistan was lost due to a war in between India and Pakistan on November 22, 1971. The war with West Pakistan started on December 3, 1971, resulted into destruction and chaos in Pakistan. Yahya Khan's incompetence and careless resulted into the loss of The Eastern Province and about 100,000 soldiers became POWs. About 1.5Million Bengali and non-Bengali were killed. Before that time, for 23 years, Islam and Muslims were safe and sound in this part of the world.
(23) Stanzas 41-42-43 describe the events of upcoming future war.-- MC
(24) Maybe a reference to China -- MC
(25) Possibly, Muslim warriors will join hands to repel the aggression and occupation of their lands. -- MC
(26) 2008 pilgrimage was on December 9's. 2009-2012 will be in the months of October-November -MC
(27) Probably, help will come from neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Iran, China and turkey. Saudi Arab, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and all other Middle Eastern Muslims will help Pakistan. People of knowledge categorize mankind into four classes. Aryans, Mongols, Ethiopians and Europeans. European people are white in complexion. Ethiopians are black. Aryans are people of Indo-pak and Middle East. Mongols are people from Indonesia and China. China is located in the north of Pakistan. China and Pakistan are considered friendly nations. For this reason, maybe Shah Naimatullah Wali is indicating Chinese nation as Mongols. Such help is to come after the 10 Zil-Hujj. We can assume that the equipment of war will arrive during Muharram. - Hafiz Nizami
(28) Based on this copy of qaseeda and on another different copy that I have, I assume that Naimat-ullah Shah wali always concluded a set of predictions by stating the date in the last stanza. -And Allah knows best- -- MC
(29) Hafiz Nizami, The original compiler/translator commented that Since East Part of Pakistan got separated and became an independent country (Bangladesh), Naimat-ullah Shah continued with the future of the Western part of Pakistan. - MC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

47. This Sword of the Lion of Ali (Sher-e-Ali or Sher-Ali) will wipe off the deniers. He will be the supporter of the religion of Muhammad S.A.W. He will be the protector of the country.(30)
48. There will be a great war in between him and the other. No doubt a large population will be killed.
49. The King of the western Part will be the victor on the basis of his weaponry. The defeat of the denier nation will be beyond anyone's imagination.(31)
50. Islam will rule in India for 40 Years, then will come the anti-Christ [Dajjal] from the city of Asfahan.(32)
51. Listen Carefully, I explain to you that to destroy this anti-Christ [Dajjal] Isa (Yesu / Yeshua/ Jesus) will come and Imam [leader] of Last Era, Mahdi, will appear.

Page-23
52. Naimat-ullah Shah is aware of the secrets of the unseen therefore Indeed what he's saying will appear in this world, universe and in that era.(33)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(30) Commentary of Hafiz Nizami is quite long and a repetition of what was stated earlier. Only president in Pakistan's history whose name was somewhat similar to Lion of Ali or Sword of Sher Ali is Zulifqar Ali Bhutto. Name stands for the Sword of Caliph Ali (R.A).
(31) Because some stanzas are missing here, so It is not clear if the seer was predicting the Afghan-Russia was or some future war yet to happen If No. 50 is the continuation of the 46-49, then this King has not yet arrived and the events are yet to occur. - MC
(32) A province of Iran. There's a large population of Jews living in Iran. Some prophecies of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. clearly mention that the Anti-Christ will come out of Isphahan and will have 70,000 Jewish followers. - MC
(33) Unseen is a controversial issue among Muslims. Some say that no one can know the unseen. They forget that everything in this universe is running under a system. Allah has a system for 'unseen' as well. 'Unseen' is unseen and in the knowledge of Allah alone until Allah let it to be seen and known. Whatever Allah commands, it appears on the Lohe-Mahfooz (The Preserved tablet or Akashic records). Those who have the ability and permission can view it. Some can see the commands for one day, some for a week, some for a month, some for a year and some can view, as much as Allah wants them to. Predictions were made by the prophets, by the mystics and seers through out the history. Unknown is unknown until Allah let it to be known. -And Allah knows best- - MC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page-24
53. I am looking at the power of the God (or 'destiny'); I am looking at the condition of the world.
54. I am not saying this out of the knowledge of Astrology, but looking at it with the grace of Allah.
55. In Khurasan [Iran], Egypt, and Syria And in Iraq, seeing the evil of war.
56. All of them will be in poor condition. Although one in the Thousand, I am looking at.
57. Listening to a strange story, watching a city in great chaos.
58. Murder, destruction and countless army, left & right, I am looking at.
59. Lowest [mean] of the people in knowledgeable and expert works, I See
60. Religion is very week, bad habit of pride, I See

Page-25
61. Friends from every nation, in bad situation and are mourning
62. Rise and fall, appointment of Governors, two times, I see
63. Turks and Tajiks are the enemies of each other, I see
64. Lies, fraud and deceit everywhere, in elders and in young generation, I see
65. The value of good deeds is very very low. Flames at one place, I see
66. If today there is any peace, only in the mountains, I see
67. Although I am watching all this but am not worried. The joys ahead, I see
68. After this year, and some other years, I look at the world as in a movie theater.
69. A wise King as an honorable leader, I see.

Page-26
70. This year is not like the others. I am not seeing like someone see in aware state.
71. When the year "GHA" [Alphabet] and the ''RA" [Alphabet] will pass in years, I see a strange business (event).(34)
72. Dust & Rust on the mirror of self (hearts) of the people of this world, I see
73. Darkness of unbound and unlimited cruelty spreading through the Cruel of the cities, I see.
74. Sorrowful war and living Evil, in the middle and at the sides, I see.
75. Slave will be the Master and the Masters will become slaves, I see.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(34) Referring to a system in 'Jar' (a knowledge of Alphabets and Numerology) in which Alphabets are assigned to years or the attributes of a certain alphabet commands a certain year. - And Allah Knows Best - MC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
76. This year the friend will be in trouble, his heart filled with sorrows, I see
77. At the face of Gold, there will be a new stamp. His "dirham" [currency] will be pure, I see.
78. All the rulers of the world are fighting with each other, I see.
79. The face of moon is dark, the heart of the Sun bleeding, I see.
80. Merchants in far off jungles, without companions and tired, I see.

Page-27
81. Hindu nation in poor conditions, I see. The cruelty of Turks and Tatars, I see.
82. Some trees of the garden of the world, without spring, without fruit, I see.
83. Then helping others and contentment, staying in seclusion is the best, I see
84. 0 the one who is addressed, don't worry because in this trouble, the joy of meeting the FRIEND, I See.
85. When winter without fruits will pass, then shiny spring will come, I see.
86. When his [Friend's] era will pass, his son as his souvenir, I see.(35)
87. The companions of this highly honored one shall be owners of crown [or living like Kings], I See.
88. The kings of all? realms will reach the heights of their rise, I see.
Page-28
89. His Works, his features, his knowledge and kindness, his wisdom and understanding will be same as the Prophet, I see.(36)
90. His White hand with Brightness and in it a Sword, I See.
91. Fragrance coming out of the gardens of Prophet's way, I smell, the flower of the religion in bloom, I See.
92. 0 my Brother, this Rider's rule for 40 years, I see.
93. Disobedient people embarrassed and ashamed, in front of this pious Imam [leader], I see
94. He will be the "Ghazi"(37), keeper of friendships, and destroyer of the enemies. The kind, friendly and humane, I see.
95. Beauty of the Way of the prophet and spread of Islam, strong and stable, I See.
96. The treasures of the Persian Kings and the Wealth of Alexander, being consumed in good works, I see.

Page-29
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(35) The 'friend' referred here can be Prophet Isa (A.S.) or Muhammad Mehdi R.A. -And Allah Knows Best -- MC
(36) Definitely a reference to Muhammad Mehdi R.A. (The guided one) or his predecessor And Allah Knows Best  -- MC
(37) The One who fought the wars and lives -- MC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

97. He himself will be the Imam (Leader) and World will be on one axis (center).
98. Meem, Ha, Meem, Dal (Muhammad), his name shall be, this I see and read.
99. Because of him, the religion and the world will be filled and joyful, Lucky are the people, I see.
100. Mehdi of the time and Isa [Yesu/Yeshua/Jesus] of era, both are royal riders, I see.
101. World as a city, I see, personality as strong as Castle, I see.
102. My Sultan will have 7 Ministers, all of them will be successful, I see.
103. Refreshing drinks in the hands of the serving ones, I see.
104. The Steel swords of Rusty hearts, useless and scrap, I see
Page-30
105. Sheep with the Wolf and Deer with the Lion, staying in the same place,(38) I see.
106. The clever Turk in ecstasy, I see. His enemy is drunk, I see
107. Naimat Shah, Sitting alone, is seeing all this.


-------------------------------------------------------
(38) And not harming each. A golden Age -- MC
------------------------------------------------------- 

NOTES
                           By Hafiz Muhammad Sarwar Nizami's
Respected Elders,
In the above-mentioned Qaseeda (poetic story), Naimat-ullah Shah Wali R.A. used "May Beenam" as radeef. It means, "I am Looking at". According to the knowledge of Sarf, its masdar is "Deedan". "Deed" is its past tense and "baind" is its mazar'a. Because "May Beend" shows the present tense so when used as singular Mutakalam, it will become "May Beenam". He's a friend of Allah and is stating that "I am, looking at".
'To see' is of two types. One is to see through physical eyes, the other is through inner spiritual eyes.
Maulana Ghulam Rasool Alampur Kotly r.a. Said:

Close these physical eyes that cannot do justice Open your inner eyes for salvation.

Page-31
'To see' from the physical eyes is to look through physical senses. 'To see' through spiritual eyes is to look through power of vision. The name of this power is 'thought'. Thought process is of two types. One is a limited and the other is absolute. Limited thought is associated with physical me whereas absolute thought is beyond me. Everything that we see in our world is of high density. Sufi termed it as 'the realm of bodies'. Whatever is present in the realms of bodies, all of it is present in the 'realm of shapes'. However, all of the 'realm of shapes' cannot be present in the 'realm of bodies'. Because in its expansion, this 'realm of bodies' to 'realm of shapes' is like a drop of water in an ocean.

Beyond 'realm of shapes' is the 'realm of soul'. In its expansion, the 'realm of shapes' to the 'realm of soul' is like a ring in a large land. So, in order to understand, take 'realm of shapes' as a 'burzakh' (purgatory) in between the 'realm of soul' and 'realm of bodies' or take it as a veil.

Realm of soul is the first level of the divine reality. It is a collective level. All shapes and forms are contained in it. All shapes are vague (without specific gender, without full form). Contrary to this, in the realm of shapes, all shapes are present in detailed forms. But these shapes or forms are of very light density.

Page-32
So when the limited thoughts are purified i.e. when Nafs (self) and heart is purified, then the third eye is able to view the shapes of lighter density. It means that when the reflection of such shapes is put on the mirror of bound imagination, then the events of the future are seen and predictions can be made that a certain event can happen at a certain time. Its example is same as of Sun, clouds and earth. If clouds come in between the sun and the earth, then the sunlight cannot reach the earth. The clouds are the burzakh in between the sun and the earth. If clouds are not present, then the sunlight will come down and light the earth.

... To summarize, if the bound astral body is purified, then the lower density shapes and forms which are present in the realm of shapes, will en-light one's heart and the seeker will then be able to see the future and will have the power to understand the divine knowledge and will have the power to observe.

Naimat Shah Wali was one of the greatest saints and a friend of Allah. For this reason, he was granted the knowledge of 'unseen'.

Page-33
He used 'May Beenam' in the above-mentioned Qaseeda. The understanding of divine wisdom and power to observe starts in the realm of shapes i.e. realm of moot but his levels/stations are far higher than this. He had the access to the realm of jabroot and lahoot.

Maulana Jalal-ud-din Roomi r.a. Said:

When the mirror of your heart will be clean and purified Then you will witness all shapes through water or dust

Page-33 (continued)

108. I ignore the old tale and inform about the Second Era (of Indo-pak)
109. From the Mogul Family, conqueror the second, will rule the land of India. A brave Rule.
110. Luxury will enter into there hearts; riches around and they will loose [ignore] the Usmani (Ottoman) way.

Page-34
111. They will rule India, Bengal, Kashmir and the Bhopal State for 300 years.
112. Their Empire will have access (influence) even in km, Bulkh, Bokhara and Tehran. Then they will vanish and shall be forgotten.
113. In India and in Iran, 7 generations (of moguls) will rule and then will vanish and disappear from the scene.
114. 0 the one who is being addressed, you will not see the rule of Moguls beyond 300 years. They will vanish like the "people of the Kahaf' [People of the Cave] (39)
115. Then will come the last Era of this world and the eagles of Sidra will be wasted by the hands of the death.
116. Those warriors, Rajas & Maharajas [rulers] will take drugs and will get stoned. And the Christians will enter in their realms by posing merchants.
117. They will loose their Kingship. Those who will come as guests will become the masters and will issue currency/coin of non-Indian rule.

Page-35
118. 0 the one being addressed, you will see the Christians on the throne of the Indian kings. They will arrest the Muslims by false claims and through wicked tricks.
119. You should know that their rule would be for 100 years. 0 friends, I have seen this secret.
120. Islam and Muslims will be surprised and unable to do anything. Bulkh, Bokhara, Tehran, Sind and all India as well.
121. Indians will read English Knowledge in schools and colleges. They will ignore and the Islamic knowledge.
122. Then will come a war in which Russians and Japanese will take part. Japanese will be the victors (40)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

(39) Points(111-121): Mogals (Mughals) ruled India and some other nations for a long time and then their empire vanished. Their children were killed and the English invaders destroyed their families and virtues. British East India co. entered in India in the guise of traders. Slowly, they bribed the officials to get more and more access and power. Then they formed their own Castles and their own army and started invading different cities and states. Finally in 1857, they got hold of the throne of India. England ruled India for approx. 100 years. In those hundred years, the western knowledge replaced Indian sciences. Rajas/Maharajas ruled in more than 50 states. All of them lost their kingdom. - MC
(40) Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), a military conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becomes the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. The Russo-Japanese War developed out of the rivalry between Russia and Japan for dominance in Korea and Manchuria.--MC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

123. They will be like the kings in a Chess game. Both players expansion will be unbalanced [on weak foundations]. Mediators will negotiate truce.
124. They will agree and fix the borderlines, will stop the war but the Agreement will be hypocritical.

Page-36
125. Russians will rule the Koh-Kaaf (a mountain range); also Kawarzam and Khewa will be conquered.
126. Will gain access even to Egypt, Sudan, Bokhara, Kohistan, Lebanon, Karakh, and Constantinople.
127. They will conquer up to the Sea of Khazar, Gailan. Through wickedness they will gain access to China and to the throne of Iran.
128. There will be a King in Muslims called Abdul Hameed. Like Iranian Kings, he will be a just one.(41)
129. In support of Islam he will stand up and struggle. After him, will come average sultan.(42)
130. Christians will attack him from all the sides and will get access to his land using tricks and wickedness.
131. After Hameed, the Sultan shall be Shah Khamis (or Fifth with the same name or title). He will sit on the throne unexpectedly.(43)

Page-37
132. The Deniers will rule East and West. When this will come true. (44)
133. There will be a mass murder in the Jungle of Marv [or Maroo], people will be killed. They will conquer Turkish lands.
134. The Second largest mass murder will occur in that era. Apparently the deniers will be victorious.
135. Then at last, the friend of the Allah, the Conqueror, will take his sword out. (45)
136. A new Life will run into Muslims, They will have the upper hand and you will see the nation of Uthman (ottomans or usmani) rejoicing.
137. The Plague and famine will appear in the lands of India, so Muslims will the at many places.
138. An earthquake, like the quack of the judgment day will occur. The 2/3 of Japan will be destroyed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
(41) Ottoman Emperor Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) - MC
(42) 'Amiana' is Original word used in qaseeda. It has several meanings. Common, normal, cheap, average. - MC
(43) Muhammad V or Mehmed V (1909-1918) - MC
(44) Point 132 onwards: Probably these events are yet to occur. - MC
(45) 'Habeeb-Ullah' is the original word use in Qaseeda. It means 'friend of Allah' - MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page-38
139. Two persons with the name Ahmad will misguide a lot of people. They will interpret Al-Quran at will.(i.e. misinterpret) (46)
140. There will be a war for 4 years on Western continent (Europe). Aleph (inglistan i.e. England) will cunningly win the war against Geem (Germany).(47)
141. This will be the first Great War. Mass murder will take place. 10.3 million lives will be lost.
142. They will reach a truce agreement but this truce will not be a permanent one.
143. Both the parties will silently manufacture weapons. That is Geem (Germany) and Aleph (England) will prepare for war.
144. When Japan will fight against China, Christians will fight with each other.
145. His first attack will be on France. British and Italians will also be in the state of war.

Page-39
146. Thus the Second Great war will start after 21 years. This will be fierce and aggressive than the first
war. (48)
147. Indians will also aid in this war. They will be unaware of the fact that this aid will be useless.
148. Weapons equal to the effect of lightening and of mass destructions will be manufactured by the famous scientists of that era.
149. O the one who is addressed, if you are living in the east you'll hear the talk of the west.(49) The voices from the unseen places will be heard.
150. Both the Alephs (Inglistan and America), Russia and China will join hands together and will attack Aleph (Italia), Geem (Germany) and Second Geem (Japan) (50)
151. This war will continue for about 6 years. Will be bitter than the salty water and will be like a jungle crowded with wild beasts.
152. After that Christians will leave India. But before doing so, they will sow the seeds of wickedness (malice).(51)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(46) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835 -1908) and his eldest son Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad (1889-1965). Mirza claimed to be Mujadid, Mahdi and Jesus. His son was his Second Khalifa (Successor). Both of them wrote many books and misinterpreted Al-Quran. - MC
****
Dr. Allama Iqbal also mentioned two false prophets in his book Javed Nama 
(1) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani (1838) (2) Mirza Hussain Ali Baha Ullah (1817)
(Read 3rd stanza of Poem here Khatab Ba Javed. Its from Book Javed Nama.
****
(47) History: WWI (1914-1918)
(48) History: WWII (1939-1945)
(49) Telecommunication, Radio - MC
(50) In Persian and in Urdu language, Alphabet 'I' sometimes has the similar sound of Alphabet 'Aleph or A' and is written in this matter. Similarly 'G or J' has similar sound of 'Alphabet Geem'. - MC
(51) Hatred in Hindus and Muslims. Unresolved status of Kashmir and some other areas etc. - MC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page-40
153. When this good news will spread, people from different places will get together at Bab-e-Aali *.
(*Bab-e-Aali may be a place in Lahore named now Bab-e-Pakistan near Walton Cantt, A place where biggest refugees camp was built in Lahore. Writer Mumtaz Mufti also mentioned this camp in his book Alakh Nagri)

154. India will be divided into two parts. Sadness and Sorrow will result from the cunning and deceit.(52)
155. Kings without crown will rule Indo-pak.(53) They will issue orders without knowledge. Statements will be ambiguous.
156. (Officials) will show laziness after taking bribes, they will knowingly ignore the issues. Will change the king's orders.
157. Knowledgeable people will mourn and the wise will mourn over the knowledge and wisdom they have. Fools will be naked, busy dancing and listening songs.
158. Kind hearts will turn cold and respect will turn into boldness. All this will occur because of the evil of that time.
159. They will commit the crime of incest. Sister with brother, boy with his mother and father with his daughter.

Page-41
160. Sarkar Muhammad S.A.W.'s nation will commit such criminal and disgusting acts.
161. Evil and bad acts will spread everywhere. Even mother will cheat his daughter.
162. Those misled Muftis (clerics) will issue baseless decrees. Will try to twist the orders of Sharia (Islamic law)
163. Sinners will become the elders of their nation. So its house of wise will be deserted.
164. People in cities and in mountains, will fearlessly consume drinks in summer and will take drugs.
165. Like a candle, the orders of Islam will meltdown and vanish. Person with knowledge will be considered foolish and the people without knowledge will be revered.
166. Those scholars of the earth will be arrogant (proud). They will decorate their unclean face with high turbans.(54)
Page-42
167. Will decorate them by wearing high turbans and fancy robes. This is equal to hiding the golden calf of Samir the magician under their clothing. (55)
168. Muslims, in their weakness, will find reasons and logics for their wrong behaviors.
169. Will forget what is halal and what is haram.(56) Because of kidnappings and rapes, women loose their dignity and respect.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(52) India divided into India and Pakistan in 1947. A mass murder of Muslim immigrants took place. - MC
(53) Presidents, prime ministers - MC
(54) Wearing Turban was the sign of respected ones / elders. - MC
(55) Samir (Samari Jadugar) the Magician made a Golden Calf during the Prophet Moses' (A.S.) seclusion. The Jews worshipped that idol. Samir's calf is a sign of hypocrisy and a sign of disbelief in God! - MC
(56) Halal- allowed, haram-forbidden things and actions - MC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

170. Hatred will appear; women will be without veil, will look innocent but in reality, are prostitutes.
171. Some people will sell their daughters and act as pimps. Base and mean people will have attire of honored and pure ones.
172. Some people will not have any shame or respect for privacy. Mothers will compare themselves with their daughters.
173. Deniers will suggest Islam to Muslims. Stopping them from performing pilgrimage and stopping them to say their daily prayers.

Page-43
174. In India, like Satan, a man from Turkish lineage will tell big lies.
175. Judges will be at the height of foolishness; scholars with great knowledge will take bribes.
176. Good advices will vanish, and you'll see that Governments will be formed through deceit and through lies.
177. Hypocrisy will spread in the east and in the west, in all four directions. Common people will accept the widespread evil and sins.
178. You'll not see anyone defending the truth. They will honor the thieves and robbers.
179. Lies, hypocrisy, backbiting and all other sins will spread everywhere. Murders, adultery and homosexuality will spread at many places.
180. Sheikhs (teachers) will give satanic suggestions. They will sit in their homes with their lovers.
Page-44
181. Pious will obey Satan; scholars will be the enemies of God. Worshippers will forsake worship and saints will be hypocrites.
182. The customs and rituals of the Christians (57) will be adopted everywhere. Innovations (in religion and traditions) will spread. Sunnah of the Prophet (the way of the Prophet) will disappear.
183. If you give few coins of silver to a judge, he will change his decision like the dog of a hunter.
184. A group will take interest over the loans. May God damn such people, sitting on an enormous wealth.
185. Muslims will be ignoring their prayers. Will be the prisoners in the world of lust. This will happen in the world.
186. Fasting, prayers and obedience will disappear suddenly. Zikr and religious chants will be hypocritical.
187. Fondness of Prayers, fasting, Hajj, and Charity will decrease. Feel like a burden to their hearts.

Page-45
188. Suddenly Muslims will hear a noise.(58) They will fight fearlessly with the deniers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(57) It seems that to Naimat Shah, every westerner is a Christian. Amazingly accurate description of today's world. The western culture, clothing, language, traditions etc. are spreading like a wild fire. Just look around in your countries. Another gift / curse of globalization to mankind. - MC
(58) History: According to Hafiz Nizami, this stanza refers to Indo-Pak war of 1965 in which Indians lost and finally agreed to Tashkent Declaration.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

189. Sword of success in hands, they will fight with the enemy until they win by the grace of Allah.
190. Hellish people will run away from the heart of Punjab (Khem Karan). Muslims will control the city.
191. All the deniers will reach an agreement of unity and they will defeat the Muslims by force.(59)
192. Hindu Banya (60) (money-Lender) will be the flag-bearer of India. Denier will pass away in his state of denial.
193. After the war of 17 days, after many sacrifices and fighting, the Ghazis will be successful.(61)
194. At the time of anxiety and depression, Allah will be merciful towards Muslims

Page-46
195. Muslims will force the leader to step down, after that Muslims will face a degrading defeat.(62)
196. With great sadness, I am advising you to refrain from the ways of the priests.
197. A great wrath will come upon those who deserve the punishment. Finally Allah will order a great punishment.
198. Muslims will loose their lives; loose their strength, through the hands of a Hindu nation carrying weapons.(63)
199. Eastern Part will be destroyed through the deception of the wicked. Western part will mourn over these cruel actions.
200. Lives of Muslims will be cheaper than property and the blood of Muslims will run like a deep ocean.
201. A big city will become a great slaughterhouse. Like Karbala, every house will experience great suffering.(64)
202. The Leader of Muslims will be the friend of the enemy.(65) He will help them by keeping his promise.
203. The one whose name's first letter is 'Ga' and this name will have 6 letters; will surely be a victor through the cunning and wickedness.(66)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(59) Maybe a reference to Tashkent Declaration - MC
(60) Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904-1966), Third Prime minister of India. He passed away shortly after the defeat in the war - MC
(61) Indo-Pak was of 1965 lasted exactly 17 days. - MC
(62) President Ayub Khan, who fought the 1965 was, was forced to step down. Muslims lost eastern Province of Bengal in 1971. -MC
(63) A reference to Indian funded 'Mukti-Bahni' organization. This organization committed a genocide of Muslims in 1970-1971 - MC
(64) A reference to Dhaka. Now the capital of Bangladesh. - MC
(65) General yahya an, then president of Pakistan was a well-known traitor - MC
(66) Name was Gandhi. With 6 letters in both English and Urdu/Persian language. Indra Gandhi was the prime minister of India at the time of 1971 war - MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page-47
204. This incident will happen in between the two Eid festivals when the Sun will be at 50 degree and moon will be traveling through Sharteen. At that time, Hindu will win over the bad men (67)
205. Muslims will acquire weapons in the month of Muharram. They will take bold steps then.(68)
206. After that a revolt will appear in India. Chaos will spread in the land of deniers.
207. Idol-worshippers will then be cruel towards the Muslims. Muslims will stay patient in front of Hindu wrath and anger.
208. Muslims of western part will be blessed by God's mercy and there will appear serious people.
209. Help will come from the Northeast part to pave the way for victory.
210. An army of warriors well versed with weaponry will come and add a great strength to Muslims.

 Page-48
211. Turkish, Arabs, Iranians and people of Middle East will come fast with the intentions to help.
212. People from mountains and forests will come too. A flood of fire in all directions.
213. Chitral (69), Nanga Parbat (70), Gilgat (71) near china, and Tibet (72) will become the war ground.
214. Turkish, Chinese and Iranians will unite together and they will conquer India.(73)
215. Like an army of ants, they will conquer India in no time. I sware by the Almighty Allah that Muslim nation will be the victor.
216. People of Kabul will come out to fight the deniers. The deniers will try to present excuses.
217. The earth will shake by the march of the Ghazis of Sarhad. To reach their goal, they will come fast.  

Page-49
218. The common people and the officials will get together. In his work, there will be hundred kinds of sorrows.(74)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(67) History: 'Sheen' stands for 'Shams' (Sun). 'Noon' is 50" ' degree in astrological than. Sharteen is Moon's first manzil in astrological than. Moon of the 2 day. This incident happened on November 22, 1971 when Yahya Khan was the President of Pakistan.
(68) In my opinion 204-onwards are the predictions of future war in India and Pakistan - and Allah knows best - MC
(69) A valley in northern areas of Pakistan - MC
(70) A mountain range in the northern area of Pakistan - MC
(71) A valley in northern Area - MC
(72) Tibet is part of china now a days - MC
(73) New alliances will be formed and this shall be the beginning of the WWIII. - And Allah knows best  - MC
(74) Referring to someone whose actions will result into many sad events - MC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
219. This event will take place after the Eid Qurban and before the Eid-ul-Fitr's prayers. They will acquire back the lost territory, which will be occupied by the enemy.
220. 3 times, the river of Attock will run with the blood of the deniers.
221. Punjab, City of Lahore, State of Kashmir, Do-Aab (Ganga-Jamna rivers), city of Bijnor, will be captured by the Muslims.
222. Beautiful girls and lovely sweethearts will be among the spoils of war for the Mujahids.
223. After this, the deniers will fully loose the war. The brave army will be happy and shall be victorious.
224. This battle will last for around 6 months. By the grace of Almighty God, Muslims will be the victors.
225. By the grace of God, Muslims will be very happy. Such will be shower of the blessings of God.

Page-50
226. The people of bad intentions for faith and for the religion will have lost their lives. All the India will be cleansed from the Hindu rituals (traditions).
227. An earthquake like the quack of the judgment day will occur. This earthquake will be the wrath on Hind (India) and Sindh (a province of Pakistan).
228. Like India, the west too will have bad luck. The Third Great War will begin.
229. Out of Two Alephs (England and America), one Aleph will be destroyed. 'Ra' (Russia) will attack the Aleph of the west.
230. The defeated 'Geem' (Germany or Japan) will become equal to (or unite with) the 'Ra'(Russia). Very dangerous, hellish weaponry of fire will be used.
231. 'Ra' (Russia) will be destroyed by the anger and wrath of 'Seen' (China). Russia will save itself from china by cunning tricks.
232. Aleph (75) shall be destroyed to an extent that not a single dot of it will remain. Only its name and description will remain in the history books.

Page-51
233. This is the divine punishment for them and they will be given the title of 'criminals'. None will dare raise head like priests do.
234. These dishonest people ruined their lives. Finally they dwell in the hell.
235. Those secrets that I narrated, those pearls that have handed over, are like the divine certificates. I described them because Allah surely will help Muslims.
236. O the one being addressed, if you want Allah's help then follow the sacred word and Allah's friends.

------------------------------------------------------------------
(75) According to Hafiz Nizami, Aleph stands for England - MC
------------------------------------------------------------------

237. Until the best year

Approaches. Imam Mehdi R.A. The guided one will rise.

238. Suddenly, during the days of Hajj, Imam Mahdi r.a. Will appear. News of his appearance will spread in the world.

Page-52
239. After that the Denier Anti-Christ (Dajjal) will appear from the city of Asfahan. Prophet Isa (A.S.) (Jesus/Yesu/Yeshua) will return to destroy the antichrist.
240. 0 Naimat Shah, Be silent! Don't reveal the secrets of Allah. I am describing these events in the year

(Year 548 A.H. )

-THE END-

Future of Pakistan (Insha Allah)

English Translation: Qaseeda Shah Naimat!
By
Naimat Ullah Shah Wali R.A.
Source:
From Hafiz Muhammad Sarwar Nizami's Compilation
April 1972
-- Disclaimer --
The following is a literal translation.
Some sentences are little bit edited and paraphrased.
Translations of Quranic Verses are a literal English translation of the Urdu text.
In no way this translation is equal to the Actual and Authorized Translation of the Arabic Text.
In case of any disagreement, please refer to the Arabic text and its authorized English translation.
All 'History' footnotes (Explanation-Blue Numbering) are the commentary of the original compiler Mr. H.M. Sarwar Nizami
MC- My Commentary (Green Numbering - Just to explain some points)
Please ignore grammar and Spelling mistakes. All faults are mine.
I appreciate if someone translates it correctly.
If someone is willing, please download the original Urdu text from
--End disclaimer page--

DARK AGES AMERICA

The Diamond of the Mind

“The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to salvation is hard."—From the Katha Upanishad

And so, as we approach Comment #200 on the previous post, and thus need to start another discussion (though we can certainly keep talking about Japan and technology), I figure I should say something Important and Insightful regarding the state of the world, as we slide toward Xmas and the New Year. However, the state of the world is obvious: capitalism is coming apart, and this is the real story of the 21st century. It doesn’t matter whether one is talking about Rom Mittney’s haircut, or Kim Kardashian’s rump, or riots in Greece, or Latreasa Goodman (a hero of mine), or the latest piece of techno-crap from Apple. The hilo conductor, as we say in Spanish, the thread pulling it all together, is that the socioeconomic formation that has been with us for 500 years or so is finally coming to an end. One might argue that the spiritual emptiness of capitalism is obvious to only a few, but I’m convinced that there is a subconscious awareness of this among a good part of the American population, Black Friday Wal-Mart riots notwithstanding. Americans may be stupid, but they aren’t dead.
On one level, the country is totally adrift. Thomas Naylor recently sent me an article in which he argues that Obama won the election because he is chic, cool, not because he has a vision. Indeed, says Prof. Naylor, the guy has no vision at all. Everything with him is ad hoc; he has no idea where to lead the nation, or what that might even consist of. Far from being any sort of leader, he’s just winging it—playing at being president, as it were, and the hollowness of it all, the charade aspect of it, is hard to miss. On another level, the direction of the nation is pretty clear: downward, and absolutely nothing can alter that trajectory. No empire, in its dying phase, was able to halt or reverse the downward path it was on; and despite our belief in American ‘exceptionalism’, we will not escape our fate. In this regard, Occupy Wall Street (what’s left of it) is as clueless as Barbara Ann Nowak (bless her heart) or Herman Cain (a loveable douche bag, if there ever was one).

And yet life goes on, and it contains so much that is marvelous. December, it seems to me, is a time for taking stock, for being grateful for the previous 11 months. I was lucky: my gratitude list is pretty long right about now. In terms of change, or good fortune, I like to think in terms of events that are ‘meteoric’ vs. ones that are ‘geologic’. Meteoric includes stuff like a great (if brief) love affair with a beautiful woman half my age, or taking a cable car to the top of Mount Misen on Miyajima, and looking down, through the mist, at the Inland Sea. Geologic events are things like sitting in a café and making notes for my next book, or having a good workout at the gym, and feeling completely like a body. Viewed from a certain perspective, it’s all sacred, it seems to me.

But most people on the planet don’t get to have this. In fact, something like 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. This is the fallout from neoliberalism (capitalism) and globalization (imperialism). “There is enough for everyone’s need,” said Gandhi, “but not enough for everyone’s greed.” I’m not sure; overpopulation seems like the greatest threat to the planet, and to the human race, that we currently face. The world population forecast for 2050 is for 9 billion people, and if the past is any guide, we’ll probably hit that figure well in advance of mid-century. More and more, things are escaping from our conscious control. In terms of structural or collective solutions, it’s not clear what is to be done, or who is in a position to do it. If you are concerned about overpopulation, ecological destruction, social inequality, genocide, economic havoc, and government by corporate plutocracy, all well and good; but dealing with any of these things at a group or political level is a murky proposition. What group will you join? What politics will you pursue? What impact can you realistically expect to have? In times such as these, what are the levers of change—beyond disintegration itself, which I personally believe is how substantive change is going to take place. Geologic (micro) changes accumulate until you get meteoric (macro) changes, as Marx was one of the first to point out—the quantity-to-quality argument—although I think Epicurus beat him to it by about 2,000 years. Or to put it another way, the way we live on a daily basis is finally going to (dis)solve the way we live on a daily basis. Individually speaking, you can live better (Gandhi) or you can live worse (Lloyd Blankfein), but the long-term effects of your behavior probably won’t be in for quite a while.

Given the fact that there is no immediate or obvious answer to the issue of meaningful collective action, let’s talk about things at the microlevel instead. In the current issue of n+1, Kristin Dombek describes an acid trip she was on during her college years, which was threatening to turn really bad. At this point, a friend put her arm around her, and “I found my way to some edge, thin as a thread, where the panic turned into laughter.” She continues:

“This is the diamond of the mind, this ability….From then on when the panic crept in I could just push over the thread-thin edge to the other side, feeling the way to joy. Joy is the knowledge that the thread is there. A thread runs through the middle of your life, and if you find it, the second half can be comedy instead….You can do this yourself, if you have found the diamond in your mind.”

I had a similar experience many years ago with magic mushrooms (psilocybin), when as the landscape began to undulate (I was on Vancouver Island) and I felt the terror rising, I made a deliberate decision to enjoy what was happening. Somehow, I found the “thread-thin edge to the other side.” The next few hours were fascinating, as a result, but this may have been more the result of luck than courage, I don’t know. (Woody Allen believes most of what happens to us is a matter of luck. He may have a point.)

All any of us can do, it seems to me, is to put one foot in front of the other, and keep walking; though it does help to have a sense of the direction you want to go in, obviously. As some wag once put it, Wisdom is essentially knowing what to do next.

 

The Question Concerning Technology

Dear Wafers and Other Friends:

As we are approaching the 200-message mark on the previous post (god, you guys have been engaged these days!), it is with some regret that I must leave the topic of Mittney (Rom! Can you forgive me?), and move on to other topics. I'm not really ready to talk about Japan, since I'm still reeling from my trip and need time to process the whole thing, but for now let me say a few words about one thing I observed there that forced me to rethink a basic premise I've had about the history/sociology of technology. This is mostly thinking out loud, if you guys can tolerate something only partially digested (to mix metaphors).

Actually, it involves two premises. One, technology is not, as is commonly thought, value-neutral. In other words, the conventional wisdom is that you can use an axe to fell a tree and thus build yourself a house, or you can chop off your neighbor's head, which would not be very polite. Virtually all Americans (not the sharpest 'race' on the planet, I grant you) believe this, the president included. But as so many scholars have demonstrated, perhaps beginning with Marshall McLuhan, this just ain't so. Technologies are the bearers of culture, and if you introduce any particular technology into a society (print medium into the oral culture of medieval Europe, for example), you eventually transform that society into something else. The introduction of vaccines for cattle into rural Mexico, many decades ago, led to the marginalization of the 'sacred' culture of the curandero, and thus to a different concept of man's relationship to the cosmos. The vaccine cannot be isolated, in other words; it carries with it the world view of modern science and all that that entails (in particular, a 'disenchanted' world).

Second premise: Japan is a hi-tech society and people there are walking around with iPads, cell phones, and whatever stuffed into every available orifice. But it proved not to be so. The Japanese are fascinated with the new, that is true; but technology is not their 'hidden religion' (see Why America Failed, ch. 2). Yes, there is some degree of zombification operating there, to be sure, but much less than I anticipated; maybe 20% of the population is awash in Finnish and Korean (and Japanese) techno-crap. So you do see folks (the young, esp.) walking down the street staring into electronic screens, for example; but only about 20% at most. Tokyo aside, Japan is not a 'loud' country. Even then, I was amazed to ride the subway in Tokyo and see signs showing a cell phone with the word OFF (in English) in block capitals superimposed on the image. Occasionally, an electronic voice comes over the air and says, "Please make sure your cell phones are turned off." You look around, and people are busy texting, but not making any noise. When I took the express bus out to Narita Airport en route to returning to Mexico, an electronic voice also added, "It disturbs your fellow passengers." This bowled me over, because in the U.S., who gives a damn about the people around them? You can sit in a restaurant in LA or NY with some woman three feet away, literally yelling into her phone about her recent gall bladder operation. Y'all can identify with this, I'm sure.

The only exception I found to this was the lounge in the hotel I stayed in in Hiroshima. It was terribly American in design, very un-Japanese: formica tables, fluorescent lights, a completely sterile environment. There, people would sit and yak away loudly on their phones, and to hell with anyone else. So what the heck is going on?

Try this: if the 'hidden religion' of the United States is technology, as well as an extreme form of individualism (which I discuss in A Question of Values), the hidden religion of Japan is interrelatedness, or group consciousness. In fact, it's hardly hidden: everybody knows this about the Japanese, including the Japanese. Nor is it always a positive thing, as it can stifle personal expression and creativity, and some Japanese scholars have argued that it was the root cause of the Pacific War (1931-45), during which time it was impossible to speak out against the military direction of the nation. Whistleblowers have a hard time in Japan. Well actually, they are practically nonexistent, and the 2011 disaster at Fukushima is only the latest example of this. Maruyama Masao, in the postwar period, blamed the war on a "system of irresponsibility," and recently one courageous critic (although I believe he lives in New York) said that Fukushima was the product of Japanese culture itself.

To return to the subject of cell phones, then, what we see is not the introduction of a new technology and the subsequent transformation of the culture. No; the culture of Japan is strong enough to resist the negative effects of this technology, by a factor of something like 80%. I remember sitting in a luncheonette in a subway station and seeing a woman receiving a call on her phone, and actually taking out a small towel and putting it over her mouth, and the phone, so as to mute her voice while she was talking. More often, the Japanese will leave the space, and conduct the conversation out of earshot of those around them. Whereas Americans live like they were individual atoms, bouncing around with no civic responsibility whatsoever (and certainly as it concerns technology, since it is the hidden religion), the Japanese live in society, in community, and in relatedness to other people, and therefore are acutely sensitive to the potential impact they have about those around them. Despite the negative aspects of the group mentality mentioned above, I found this institutionalized, semi-conscious courtesy quite refreshing. So while in the US, technology combines with the ideology of extreme individualism to create a race of obnoxious techno-buffoons and zombies, in Japan the culture of public respect limits what technology can do--even though, as I said above, the Japanese tend to love the new. In a word, Marshall McLuhan doesn't apply to Japan. Or one might say, it is the cultural medium that is the message there, not the technological medium. I had to rethink my basic assumptions regarding all this (always a good thing, if somewhat disorienting).

In that regard, I was fascinated by the recent comment James Howard Kunstler made on his blog, which got reported in the comment section of the previous post here:

"Finally, I have one flat-out prediction, one I have made before but deserves repeating: Japan will be the first society to consciously opt out of being an advanced industrial economy. They have no other apparent choice really, having next-to-zero oil, gas, or coal reserves of their own, and having lost faith in nuclear power. They will be the first country to enter a world made by hand. They were very good at it before about 1850 and had a pre-industrial culture of high artistry and grace - though, granted, all the defects of human psychology."

Could Japan be the model, the cutting edge of a post-capitalist or post-industrial society? Is a kind of "back to the future" logic operating here, in which it is the craft tradition, rather than the latest piece of technological garbage, that might create a viable culture, and thus a viable model for the rest of us? Think of the Renaissance, during which time cultural renewal depended on a return to Classical civilization ("reculer pour mieux sauter"--step backwards in order to better jump ahead). As Gary Snyder once said to me, when I teased him about having a 'romantic' vision: We may have to return to the used-parts bin, and discover that some of the stuff we threw out in our zeal for progress is not so obsolete after all.

Well, I said I was thinking out loud. Food for thought, in any case, eh wot?

Mittney, we hardly knew ye!

Ay, Mittney, Mittney!

Who were you, anyway? You streaked across the dark, Obamaesque sky like a comet, and then just as quickly--you we're gone. A nation weeps.

You were, like the man who defeated you, an empty person, a Nowhere Man. Basically, a shmuck with a haircut. But there is one crucial difference: whereas your rival stands for nothing at all, and thus got filled up with Wall St. and the Pentagon--in other words, wound up as a corporate shill and a war criminal--you did have a philosophy. True, it wasn't much--warmed-over Reaganism, really--but you believed it. You believed that 47% of the American public were worthless layabouts; that the government is there to promote the rich and grind the poor into the dust; and that we should project American power to every corner of the globe, just for the hell of it. You probably think trees cause pollution, that ketchup is a vegetable, and that the homeless are homeless because that's what they really want for themselves. Pretty thin gruel, intellectually speaking, but at least it was something.

Of course, your rival has done enormous damage to America in four short years. He shredded the Bill of Rights, institutionalized kill lists and destroyed thousands of civilian lives in Pakistan and Afghanistan, increased hatred and bitterness toward the US, funneled $19 trillion into the pockets of bankers while the real unemployment rate stood at 18%--man, the list goes on and on. He even murdered American citizens on a whim, and has probably implemented the torture of many more. But what bothers me about your defeat, O Great Mittney, is that you could have done more, you could have made things even worse, and faster, too. And that's what America really needs, O My Mitt: to just fucking get it over with, instead of dawdling around with social/economic and cultural disintegration. So we'll continue slouching towards Bethlehem, committing suicide in piecemeal fashion, where you might have put us on the fast track to hell. This is indeed a sad day for our great nation, as you sat in your hotel room eating meatloaf, and composing your concession speech.

Who will remember you, in a month's time, O Mittney? Who remembers John Kerry? Who the hell was John Kerry? You get my point. Ay, Mittney: we hardly knew ye!

The Truthout Review

Dear Wafers and other friends of the blog:

Here is the latest review of my work, which just appeared on Truthout:

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/12455-america-what-happened

I need to say a few words about this, and to salute Truthout for being willing to publish it as the author submitted it, without any cutting or editing. (Counter Punch falls into the same exceptional category, imo.)

Many years ago the historian Jackson Lears pointed out that whether one was talking about The Nation or The National Review, it was pretty much the same story. I.e., the Left and Right in the U.S. think they are in opposing camps, but the similarities are far greater than the differences. Both, he remarked, believe in "progress," technological and economic expansion ("growth"), and the American Dream. Voices critical of these goals were practically nonexistent, or completely marginalized. This remains true today, of course, and I get something of a charge out of the fact that the Left is congenitally unable to entertain a scenario that is becoming more and more obvious each day: It's all over but the shouting (indeed, "progressives" are part of the shouting). Hence, their delusion is pretty thick, because if your arguments are not based in reality, how good can your analysis be?

The author of this review, David Masciotra, submitted it to several "progressive" online publications, and the reaction was basically, We'll run it if you refute Berman's argument(!). One editor, who happened to have a Master's degree from a prestigious Ivy League university, went completely bananas, telling (yelling at, actually) David that Occupy Wall Street was going to turn everything around, and that the U.S. had a great future ahead of it. Talk about impaired reality-testing (recall my constantly reiterated observation, that in America stupidity is not particularly a function of IQ). But the crucial point is that this voice, the one that says Game Over and provides the documentation for this conclusion, can almost never get a hearing. As a result of which, we drift ever closer to disaster on a daily basis, not only unwilling to consider why America failed, but also unwilling to even recognize that it failed.

Anyway, I wish to thank David for writing it, and Truthout for running it. And be sure to tell your friends: It's all over but the shouting.

Thank you all again for your support.

 

Land of the Rising Sun

Dear Wafers,

I fly to Japan early Monday morning, and will be there for six weeks. I don't know what the Internet cafe situation is there, esp. since I'll be spending two weeks in the wilds of Northeast Honshu; plus, I'll need to concentrate on my research while I'm there. So as of Monday, things will be kind of iffy on this blog, touch and go. I'm telling you this so you know that messages might not get posted for a while. But never fear: I'll be back, and hopefully everything sent in will get preserved.

Meanwhile, I wanted to ramble a bit about how I got into this project, and what my thoughts are about it at this point in time.

One of my early books (1981) was The Reenchantment of the World--the only best-seller I ever had. I guess it hit the market at just the right time, when there was a lot of interest in holistic healing and nonscientific systems of thought. The book generated a lot of interest because of its central, radical thesis: that in their own terms, these nonscientific thought systems were true; that they described a world that did, to a great degree, exist. And that if the scientific world view was also true, it was so in its terms, i.e. the parameters of the modern world. This didn't mean that I believed (for example) that arrows fell to earth in a straight line (Aristotle) prior to the Scientific Revolution, and that they changed their trajectory to a parabola around 1600 (Galileo). (Man, wouldn't that be a hoot.) Rather, that in the rush to modernity, the baby got thrown out with the bathwater: a whole world of learning, an alternate sensibility, got lost. This, I still believe, and I believe that we are much poorer for it, despite the very real benefits of the modern world. (A theme, I should add, that is echoed in Ursula Le Guin's brilliant novel, The Telling.)

(Much to my surprise, I still get letters from folks out there saying, "That book changed my life." This not from folks who took too much acid back in the 60s, but from philsophers, therapists, and people who have their critical faculties very much intact.)

I wouldn't call it my best book, and if I were to rewrite it today, I certainly would change a lot of what I originally wrote. As Noam Chomsky once remarked, if you are a professor and are giving the same lectures 20 years on from the same yellowed notes, it might be time to start thinking about retirement. Any scholar worth his or her salt is not going to agree with everything s/he wrote 31 years ago. And yet, there are a few themes that remain more or less consistent within the body of my work, and one of these is the costs of modernity. Modernity certainly has its blessings, and these are continually celebrated both in academic works as well as in the popular press. The costs of modernity, on the other hand, the aspects of the premodern era that were really valuable (as well as true)--well, these are things that most writers are not terribly interested in; and in the US, of course, at least 99% of the population is not even aware that there is an issue here.

My interest in Japan was born many years ago out of a fascination with its craft tradition, which is one of the most breathtaking the world has ever known. I remember my high school English teacher, Harold Sliker--this around 1960, when teachers were dedicated and students paid attention in class, and were still able to read--talked about the Japanese tradition of sword making, and how the artisan would fast and meditate for three days before beginning the work, and then would forge the hot steel by repeatedly folding it over, and tempering it, until the result was a brilliant blade. I was fascinated by this, but never followed it up. Well, not as a teenager, at any rate. Years later, however, when I was writing the Reenchantment book, I found the same sort of dedication in the Western alchemical tradition. Care, dedication, tradition, craft, community, infinite patience--this was the baby that got thrown out with the bathwater.

Of course, I realize that there is a socioeconomic and political context here that makes the whole subject tricky. It is perhaps not an accident that Heidegger joined the Nazi party, and that the Nazis got involved in a weird amalgam of tradition and modernity that the historian Jeffrey Herf aptly calls Reactionary Modernism. Or that the world of the medieval alchemist was one of feudal-organic hierarchy; or that the samurai tradition, including the mingei, or folk craft tradition, got cleverly channeled into the militarism of the 1930s, culminating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. And as far as contemporary Japan goes, young people are for the most part interested in landing a job with Mitsubishi, making a ton of yen, and sticking the latest iPhone up their noses. Things like the tea ceremony, in their eyes, are for squares and tourists. Which is not all that surprising, given the impact America has had on that nation.

The first impact came in the form of Commodore Perry, who sailed into Edo Bay in 1853 and threatened to blow the place to kingdom come if the Japanese did not open themselves up to commercial trade with the US. This was the catalyst for major turmoil within Japan, culminating in the overthrow of the shogunate in 1868 and what is known as the Meiji Restoration. While England, e.g., had more than a century to adjust to capitalism, Japan had to turn itself on its head in the space of a single generation. The result is a society that is extremely neurotic, still torn apart by issues of tradition vs. modernity. I wrote this recently to a Japanese friend, an anthropologist of about 50 years of age, who wrote back: "I struggle with all of this on a daily basis."

The second impact came in the form of General MacArthur, and the Occupation of Japan during 1945-52. The Americanization was fairly relentless, and the Japanese got on the bandwagon in a hurry: Coca-Cola, jeans, American movies, the whole nine yards. "Irresistible Empire," Victoria de Grazia called it for the case of Europe being steamrolled by the US, and one can say that it was even more irresistible in the case of Japan. (Check out Oe Kenzaburo's Nobel acceptance speech, 1994.) In any case, the land of green tea and ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints) is still reeling from the double whammy delivered by the United States. (By the way, this does not mean that I think Japan should have won the war; I don't. I'm just vainly trying to head off that accusation, like the one that surfaced in the wake of Ch. 4 of Why America Failed, in which because I said that the antebellum South had certain nonhustling characteristics that were admirable, a whole bunch of readers took this to be a defense of the Confederacy and of slavery. Man...my mother told me I should be a plumber instead of a writer, but did I listen? I keep saying on this blog that Americans are not very bright, and I have no doubt that when my book on Japan appears, the same crowd will be jumping up and down and screaming that I want Japan to have been the victor in WW2. Too many people in this country with lobotomies, apparently.)

Anyway, all this by way of saying that Japan and what it represents, historically and culturally speaking, is a very complex subject, and that whenever one asserts X about it, there is always a non-X or anti-X that needs to be taken into consideration. That being said, let me return to Harold Sliker, Japanese sword makers, and the significance of the craft tradition. On craft in general, Octavio Paz wrote in 1973: "Between the timeless time of the museum and the speeded-up time of technology, craftsmanship is the heartbeat of human time." Or to quote Alan Watts (The Way of Zen), "people in a hurry cannot feel."

Here is Watts on Zen art:

"The aimless life is the constant theme of Zen art of every kind, expressing the artist’s own inner state of going nowhere in a timeless moment. All men have these moments occasionally, and it is just then that they catch those vivid glimpses of the world which cast such a glow over the intervening wastes of memory—the smell of burning leaves on a morning of autumn haze, a flight of sunlit pigeons against a thundercloud, the sound of an unseen waterfall at dusk, or the single cry of some unidentified bird in the depths of a forest. In the art of Zen every landscape, every sketch of bamboo in the wind or of lonely rocks, is an echo of such moments."

(If you want to get an idea of what Watts is talking about on film, check out Enlightenment Guaranteed and Cherry Blossoms, both by the German filmmaker and Japanophile, Doris Doerrie.)

Bernard Leach, England's greatest potter (who lived in Japan for many years), says that shibui is an aesthetic ideal in Japanese craft, referring as it does to the austere, the subdued, and the restrained. This element, he remarks (A Potter's Book), gave the work a religious and psychological basis--something quite different from the hi-tech products being turned out by Japan today. During its integrated periods, adds Donald Richie (A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics), Japan presented the spectacle of a people who made art a way of life. All of this got lost in the rush to modernize, to Americanize. Yet one wonders whether any society, be it ours or the Japanese, can sustain itself without this kind of religious or psychological foundation. In this regard, the Japanese reaction to the Tom Cruise film, The Last Samurai, when it was released in 2003, is rather instructive (I need a stronger word here). The film is not really historically accurate; it is a romanticization of the last samurai rebellion, led by Saigo Takamori in 1877 (a folk hero in Japan to this day)--a shorter equivalent of our own Civil War, and fought, perhaps, for similar reasons (see the infamous Ch. 4 of Why America Failed). On blogs, newspapers, radio programs and whatever, there was this huge outpouring of emotion in response to the film, to the effect of: "This is us; this is the real Japan." Shades of Ursula Le Guin, once again: a corporate-commercial reality had been rammed down their throats, pasted over a deep, spiritual reality, and suddenly, the Japanese came out of the closet and declared: We're not having it; modernization tried to destroy our soul, but ultimately that soul still exists, and it will have the final say.

Well, I don't know how real (i.e., lasting) that outpouring of emotion was; everybody eventually went back to Mitsubishi to put in 14-hour work days, I'm guessing. But it does seem to me that there is a kind of 'magical' substrate that simply won't go away, and that we should be grateful for that. Can human beings really live without meaning? Japan tried to do it since the Meiji Restoration, and it hasn't worked out very well. America tried to do it since the late 16th century, and it seems to me that that is why it failed. In the last analysis, meaning is not a luxury.

Still, the US, as well as Japan, are too far gone to embrace the substrate voluntarily; this much seems certain. But the modern world will pass, as I've suggested in previous writings, and as we transition to a more austere world--by necessity, not by choice--certain things may come to the surface once again. I'm thinking of my earlier post on Ernest Callenbach, and his posthumous essay, in which he wrote the following (please pardon my duplication of part of that post):

"All things 'go' somewhere: they evolve, with or without us, into new forms. So as the decades pass, we should try not always to futilely fight these transformations. As the Japanese know, there is much unnoticed beauty in wabi-sabi--the old, the worn, the tumble-down, those things beginning their transformation into something else. We can embrace this process of devolution: embellish it when strength avails, learn to love it.

"There is beauty in weathered and unpainted wood, in orchards overgrown, even in abandoned cars being incorporated into the earth. Let us learn...to put unwise or unneeded roads 'to bed,' help a little in the healing of the natural contours, the re-vegetation by native plants. Let us embrace decay, for it is the source of all new life and growth."

Mono no aware, the Japanese call it: the somewhat melancholy awareness of the impermanence of things. There will be something of great value on the other side of the Great Watershed we are facing, I'm convinced of it. Perhaps, Japan offers a clue to what it might be.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Pageviews

free counters

Share it