“The penitent, and the worshippers, and the celebrants of praise, and the wanderers (sāʾiḥūn), and those who bow, and those who prostrate, and those who enjoin right, and those who forbid wrong, and those who maintain the limits set by God; and give glad tidings unto the believers.” (Q Tawba 9:112)

“Whoever emigrates in the way of Allah will find on the earth many dwelling places and plenty to live by. And whoever leaves his home as an emigrant to Allah and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward is then surely incumbent upon Allah.”

(Surah An-Nisa:100)

“So, flee to Allah!” (Surah Ad-Dariyat: 5)

The Niche: Al-Mishkāt

From Monday January 6th 2025 to Saturday January 11th 2025, seekers of God on the Karkariya Path walked on foot from the mausoleum of Moulay Bouazza to the mausoleum of the jurist Ben Salah, a distance of 120 km (75 miles). The path wound around mountains, river valleys, and water dams, following recently constructed national highways, and rocky terrains visited only by shepherd’s and their flocks. 

This journey constituted the winter wandering (siyāha) of the Karkariya, a foundational practice that occurs twice a year, following the Qur’anic chapter Quraysh (106:1-6), “For the secure passage of the Quraysh, their secure passage in the journey of winter and of summer; so let them worship the Lord of this house, Who relieved them of hunger and made them safe from fear.” Spiritual wandering (siyāha) is a foundation of the Karkariya, established by the Shaykh and modeled after his own 10-year siyāha. 

Sidi Shaykh writes, “The purpose of this physical siyaḥa is to behold the signs of God’s mighty power, as well as to prevent the heart from leaning on the pillars and pleasures of the lower self,” and, “To travel to your Lord, you require three things. The first is to focus your aspiration upon Him and no other, so when He looks in your heart, he finds no other beloved there but Him. The second is to fulfill your duties and abandon self-interest. The third is always to seek refuge with Him, ask His help, rely on Him, and surrender to whatever fate He decrees for you…Dear disciple, do not leave one created world for another, but leave this created world for the One who created it, because the ultimate end is to your Lord.” (excerpts from The Foundations of the Karkariya Order p.210-211)

The Lamp: Al-Misbāḥ

“When you are on siyaha you are literally walking the spiritual path (sulūk).”

One more step. One more step. One more. One more. One. One. You realize many things during siyaha. For me, I immediately recognized the metaphor siyaha stood for in relations to the spiritual journey and active wayfaring (sair wa sulūk). Our goal was God and here we were, the fuqara, moving towards Him, up, down, and around mountains, on smooth roads and rocky terrains, during the day and throughout the long night, sometimes surrounded by brothers, other times completely alone. Sometimes in dhikr, other times distracted by physical needs or lost in conversation. There were moments of happiness and exhilaration and moments of extreme tiredness and frustration. The disillusion that came from moving the fastest (downhill) was quickly revealed with the sweat and pain of moving the slowest (uphill). Even when it seemed you weren’t moving at all, such as on a straight, flat road, despite walking for hours under the harsh sun, progress was being made. All sense of time was quickly lost as day and night blended into unceasing duration, split up only by a few hours of rest under the stars. Who could understand your pain, your needs, your isolation, the cold that seeped into your bones except someone who had walked the same path, your Shaykh. Just like the spiritual path there were those that were ahead and those that were behind, those who were engrossed in dhikr, carrying the tariqa forward, and those who could only think about their pain, the world they left behind, or the world that awaited them upon their conclusion. As a faqir later explained to me, my perspective was still bounded and limiting.

The Glass Container : Al-Zujaja

On this spiritual wandering where I was engaged in roaming God’s vast earth and reading His signs and allusions to me, ultimately going from Him to Him, I was alone with my Lord. Every faqir was in his own sphere (falak) and its master. There was no hierarchy or competition between those who had more or less visions, more or less secrets. No one was ahead or behind. I was with my Lord. He was speaking to me through all things, by all things. Everything was a message directly to me and for me. My Lord was, and is now, speaking to me at every turn, with every glance, in every thought, and from all directions. He spoke to me through the stones and the trees, through the graffiti on abandoned buildings and the barking of dogs. He spoke to me from the tongue of my little brother and the loving smile of my wife. He spoke of tawakkul in the swaying of ancient olive trees, who received while never moving even an inch. He spoke of patience from the round weathered stones that broke up the monotonous flatness of the paved road. He warned of excess and waste from the dry, cracked earth. He spoke of resilience and gratitude in the pile of pebbles that served as my bed in the freezing night. 

I did not even have to ask, did not even need to set the intention in my heart and His response was there, waiting for me before even my creation. His response preceded my asking, His sustenance preceded my needing, His love preceded my desiring, His care preceded my concern, His mercy preceded my poverty. He was and nothing was with Him, and He is now as He ever was. And so I continued, step after step, one foot after the other to my Lord, the Creator of the Universe, the Loving and the all-Merciful, until I found Him in the loving embrace of my Shaykh, Sidi Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari (qs). 

The Pearly Star: Al-Kawkab Durri

Returning to my life of comfort and delusion, I carry the nearness of my Lord in my sore muscles and tired bones, in the very fiber of my being , in the innermost core of my heart. “Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of Allāh” (2:115). I look around me and see the immense mercy I am surrounded with and realize that not even a lifetime in prostration would be enough to express  my gratitude. I return with newfound respect and reverence for my Shaykh who wandered for 10 years, homeless, comforted only with the knowledge that his Lord is with him. I return with the newfound sense of purpose and aspiration to serve my Shaykh. His mission to spread the Light of Allāh is a divine trust - those who serve him have true life, while those who remain distant from this light dwell in the shadows of their own limitations. May Allāh preserve our Shaykh and grant him and those who love and serve him success in this world and in the hereafter. Ameen!