Farha Iman

This book, A Timeless Reality, debunked my pre-conceived ideas of knowledge and mind. When I first came across the statement "I think, therefore I am" made me wonder about the power of thinking for several days. Shaykh Nurjan Mirahmadi's book indirectly made me realise how corrupt this understanding is. It would not be an exaggeration to say that giving excessive importance to the mind created humanity with broken and weak hearts. It is an alarming sign to pause and reflect on our wrongdoings. With all these advancements, humans should feel satisfied and calm, and life should be easy. After all, that was the ultimate goal of all human development. However, this is not the case. A Timeless Reality has arrived at the right time. Shaykh Nurjan Mirahmadi says, "…we are not a people by the mind; we are people by our heart." His book brings attention towards the condition of the heart. It guides readers on how to create an oasis in a desert. It teaches how to quench the thirst of the heart. It gives practical methods to calm the mind and activate the heart. It is a manual for physical and spiritual protection and growth. This book is a culmination of questions people have asked over the years regarding Islam and Sufi methods and practices. It is very reader's friendly due to its question-answer writing style. It mainly focuses on meditation, connecting the heart and accompanying a guide, understanding energy and practices of protection, Taffakkur (contemplation), the importance of service and attaining sincerity, Muhasaba (self-examination), and most importantly, building good character. After reading this book, many sunnah and hadiths started to make sense, such as; why wudu, covering the head (for both men and women), salawaat, why the love of prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is so important, and recitation of the Quran in houses are so crucial in Islam. It provides the knowledge of things we feel but does not understand. In short, it is all about Jihad e Akbar, a minute-by-minute struggle within us. This book explains the hadith, oh Allah, do not place me in charge of my soul even for the blinking of an eye (Al-Hakim 1/545). This book provides a step-by-step guide to open our sensibilities (Lataifs) of heart and other body parts. The author says, "La (of La illaha illal Allah) is on the head, that this way towards the Divine is not through your head… your head is of no importance into that reality. Anything you're being taught, let it come into the heart, and that's the end" (p.76). In this connection, research shook me when I read the research findings that the heart has a brain. In the 1990's, "researchers found that the heart had nerve cells or neurons that were akin to the ones that made up the brain." It means that "the heart had its very own nervous system that could function independently of the brain!" Now scientists are finding "why does the heart need its own nervous system anyway?" (See Article by Karuna Meda, The Heart's "Little Brain", Thomas, Jefferson University). This research is in full accordance with the realities author talks about in this book and talks. His work greatly emphasises the fourth way of heart communication, i.e. the energetical way of interaction between souls. I am curious about reading another book, Levels of Heart: Lataif Ul Qalb. This book is a treat-to-heart and practical manual for protection and spiritual growth. After Ali Al Hujwairi's Kashf-ul-Mahjoob, I would put this book in second place on the list of must-haves for students of spirituality.