[probably to Sheikh Momin Frankenberg—Ed]

Fairfax, Calif.

May 14, 1948.

My dear Momin;

I am today starting on another spiritual path (within the Sufi Order) and accordingly am preparing for Murshida Duce my withdrawal from all posts and positions of an esoteric importance for an indefinite period; and also placing in her hands any other appointments of any kind which have been given to me by Pir­-o-Murshid Inayat Khan or by Murshida Rabia.

In her visit to Murshida Rabia our former leader instructed her successor, Murshida Ivy, what my spiritual path or tarik was to be. Undoubtedly it was a very wise choice. I shall do no mere teaching or typing or such work except as may for special purposes be assigned to me by Murshida Ivy; or, of course, Meher Baba.

I have had a much better picture also, of my own shortcomings, and undoubtedly was assigned to this other path in order to overcome the obstacles of my own ego, and to learn some of the simplest moral qualities, including love, in which I have been notably deficient.

Last week I revowed my acceptances of Meher Baba as Avatar, Kutub, etc., and also my full acceptance of Murshida Ivy as my teacher should she so choose.

My future work in Sufism will either be in accordance with an anticipated communication from Meher Baba; or as Murshida Ivy so assigns.

I am beginning to realize some pretty awful mistakes and shortcomings and am not asking anybody to forgive me because it is restitution, not verbal repentance that is needed, end the actual opening of the heart.

I have only one request—and this need not be communicated to me. In checking over the files, I did not find any Sangatha Commentary on Symbology I, and I did find an extra Sangitha Commentary on the same. So I have not been able to place in Murshida’s hands the Sangatha Commentary. If she should need one, may I count on your sending one to her—provided you and Francis have an extra one, at least, between you.

Francis has left many friends in these parts; I only wish I had been a friend to him, to God and to the cause, as I should have been.

Faithfully,

Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, the Only Being, united with All the Illuminated Souls who form the Embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance.

May 29, 1929

San Francisco, California.

Mr. Maheboob Khan,

Representative General, Sufi Movement,

Geneva, Switzerland.

Dear Maheboob Khan:

I am in receipt of a letter from Mr. Dussaq dated May 1st, asking me to vote on the question of the recognition of the Esoteric Head or Pir-o-Murshid of the Sufi Order, and stating that the three Murshidas in Europe had already given their vote on this question, and had recognized you as Pir-o-Murshid of the Sufi Order.

In Sangatha I, page 15, we have a great lesson before us, where Murshid says: “Therefore for the Sufi there is one principle which is most essential to be remembered, and that is consideration for human feeling. If one practices in his life this one principle he need not learn much more, he need not trouble about philosophy, he need not follow an old, or a new, religion, for this principle in itself is the essence of all religions.”

My first question is—what consideration has been shown me in the matter of electing a Pir-o-Murshid, when neither you nor the General Secretary has written one word beyond informing me of what is contained in the above letter. When I was in Europe the possibility of such an election arose, and Mr. Zanetti and Mr. Dussaq heard me say several times that it was not possible to elect a Pir-o-Murshid.

With all the terrible and antagonistic forces arrayed against me in Europe, it would not have been possible then to reveal what I am now bound in holy honor to reveal. At the earnest solicitation of Mr. Zanetti I left for Europe after our holy Murshid’s departure, in order to render such service as was possible in situations arising constantly and which were beyond anyone’s comprehension, coming from people affiliated closely with our Revered Murshid for years. I wrote you once, this terrible ordeal engraved itself upon my soul; forgiveness is one thing—to forget is another. Our Holy Murshid did not forget the terrible ordeal of the 1925 Conference, and had it not been for the Cause of God he would have left the whole thing and his letter referring to this is in my possession.

Some years ago the Esoteric Constitution was sent to me. The Pir-o-Murshid in his Esoteric rules says: “Pir-o-Murshid makes rules, his successor is  designated by him.” This you must admit is definite. It is not a matter to be voted upon. And the spiritual reason why it cannot be voted upon is that it is a Mystical degree, and it is only the Pir-o-Murshid who can recognize and confirm this Mystical degree of attainment. This state of Hal, as you must know, comes only by the divine favor of Allah.

I therefore consider it my most sacred trust to guard the rules laid down by our Revered Murshid in his Esoteric Constitution. As he has stated that his successor is designated by him, again we have an Esoteric rule and tradition laid down and sustained by him. At this point I must break a silence which I was compelled to impose upon myself owing to the European situation I have referred to above, which compelled me to bide my time, and for the excellent reason that no one there would have listened to me then.

What I must now impart as my sacred duty and to preserve the Esoteric traditions and obedience to Hierarchical laws, is as follows: I am Pir-o-­Murshid’s first disciple in the Western world, and in later years Senior Murshida. I was initiated in 1911 and received from him a complete initiation consisting of all eleven degrees at once. In 1912 Holy Murshid called me to New York, as he had waited for the completion of the mystical process I was then passing through, and shortly thereafter he conferred the degree of Murshida upon me, with great joy and blessing, for he said what he had waited for had been accomplished. For eleven years I was the only Murshida. That marked the origin of the first chain of Murshids mystically inaugurated by our Holy Pir-o-Murshid in the Western World, and it ushered in a chain of tradition in consonance with the Ancient traditions of the Sufis. Its importance, as far as I was able to determine, has never been understood by any European mureed, but it was understood clearly by my early American mureeds after the beginning of my work here in 1912, for which I am very thankful, for their understanding of these mystical traditions has been the foundation of their devoted and faithful service to the Cause of God. They are very advanced mureeds today—very advanced from a mystical point of view—and that is of the first importance. Before I was called by Mr. Zanetti to Europe after our Holy Murshid’s departure from this plane, I imparted to some of my trusted mureeds the knowledge which I now, after a self-imposed silence, impart to you.

In 1923 when Holy Murshid came to America after an absence of eleven years, he remained as my guest in my home for more than six weeks. During that blessed and holy time he conferred an Initiation upon me as a preparation for the one he completed when he was with us again in 1926. On March 16th, 1926, he conferred another, most holy Initiation, his last, and that Initiation made me his Esoteric  successor. I have in my possession the sacred directions of that Initiation written by his own blessed hand. And with the help of Allah and our Holy Murshids in chain, I will one day, before I leave this plane, confer it upon my Esoteric Successor. And thus the line of tradition that he originated in the Western World, with the help of Allah, will be preserved and perpetuated.

Now you will understand the impossibility of voting for a Pir-o-Murshid, for this holy degree has nothing to do with blood relationship—it has everything to do with mystical attainment. This is exactly what my Holy Murshid taught me from the very beginning of my discipleship.

It should be of special interest to you to learn that my Khalifa, Mrs. Miller, attained her Khalifship likewise, for she was never asked over the long years to write essays or commentaries upon the teachings, as required in after years. No, because, for the same reason, and I quote his beautiful and simple words to her: “God alone has brought you to this Illumination, I can only bless you and confirm it.”

This is the mystical tradition he himself preserved all through the seventeen years with me and with some of my very advanced mureeds. Again I repeat, this is how he directly taught me.

It is evident then, that you and the three Murshidas mentioned as having already voted, do not understand mystical tradition and the laws of the Hierarchy, or else the present situation could not have come to pass. You must understand that I am speaking solely regarding the origination of the chain of Murshids by our Revered Murshid in the Western World. I wrote of what I am fully conscious of, and that alone. Eastern tradition bears a close relationship, especially in the Esoteric Traditions and Initiations, although our Revered Murshid adapted much to western needs, as our civilization differs.

Through the Will of Allah, Inayat Khan became a Messenger (Rassoul) and has deposited in the Western World with some trusted disciples Esoteric knowledges which have hardly been understood, much less appropriated, even when some of these knowledges were imparted.

The course you are taking then, in allowing this question to go to a vote, is a violation of those laws I have mentioned and also a violation of the law of Esoteric Succession which I have here imparted, as the time has come at last for me to speak officially. Again I must refer you to my quotation from Sangatha I, page 15. A world of knowledge is contained therein.

I must now refer to the painful situation which arose concerning my refusal to sign a three year appointment as National Representative, when the General Secretary had been told by our Holy Murshid himself on the eve of his departure for India, that I was not to be disturbed, as it was a life appointment. I have the right to ask, what consideration has been shown the first Murshida and Mother of the Sufi Movement in America.? Recognition of her highly spiritual and responsible position includes respect for her spiritual degrees which confirms the rights, instructions, privileges, duties, teachings, utterances and commands the Revered Murshid bestowed upon her. That is why I suffered so in spirit when I read that letter containing a so-called appointment. That letter should never have been allowed to be written.

It should then be quite clear why I maintained a self-imposed silence on many things. The fifth Sufi Thought should be studied by all who have the Sacred Trusts in charge. Also in “The Way of Illumination” we find in paragraph 6, page III: “The confident of the Murshid and of the Order. Therefore he takes a vow in his heart to make use of all he receives from the Sufi teachings and practices to the best of his ability, not using any parts for selfish purposes.”

If the Esoteric tradition and law of Succession is violated you establish a dangerous precedent, which will usher in untold sorrows for all, yourself included, now and in the future. Over and over again did the Holy One repeat from his great predecessors, “I have not come to give a new law, I have come to fulfill the law.” Yet, those who walked by his side while on earth, no sooner does an opportunity appear than they endeavor to bring something different into operation. Can you refer to a single Messenger whose Successor was chosen by vote?

Joshua and Caleb returned from the survey of Palestine, and when they spoke the children of Israel murmured against them and wished to kill them. Yet Joshua was the first successor of Moses in Holy Chain, and Caleb the next. John was the favorite disciple of Jesus, Ananda of Buddha, and Ali of Mohammed, yet none of them succeeded their Rassoul, but he whom Allah had chosen was the successor.

When Christianity forgot this and elected a leader, we were given a Pope, because the original law of mystical succession was violated. If we set aside the Esoteric rules our Pir-o-Murshid laid down, we will be making the same error in principle, and it will be all the more incomprehensible and unjustifiable because we have walked by the side of our Teacher and know his words and read his writings. When the Arabs decided to vote Ali out of office, out of an office he was entitled to by spiritual right, they split Islam even unto this day.

Either we draw our authority from God or from man—it is one or the other.

In his introduction to the Rules for the Sufi Order, Pir-o-Murshid says:

“The Sufi Order is the same school which has existed in different parts of the East as an esoteric school and which during the period of Islam was accepted and carried out by the rationalistic philosophers of Islam. The tradition of this Order is to be traced from the time of Abraham and the genealogy of the Murshids of this Order can be found from the time of the  Prophet Mohammed. The later development of the Sufi Order, which was called Chishtia, culminates in the present Order of the Sufis, which is established in the West, with its Headquarters in Geneva, in order that through the medium of the Ancient Wisdom East and West should be united beyond the boundaries of differences and thus unite to the best advantage of humanity at large.”

It is through the ancient wisdom and by the laws and precedents of the “same school” which has been existing for ages that East and West are to be united, and not by the suffrage of men, remembering that “God alone is the Founder of Sufism” and this Wisdom is His Wisdom.

I have quoted copiously from words our Holy Murshid himself has uttered. I come from a long line of Prophets who gave to the world some of its holiest possessions. When some of the lesser Prophets of Israel coveted popular acclaim, God raised an Elijah, who became one of the greatest, and through whom all the Semitic teachers claim to have received the Light of Holy Tradition. I have opened my heart to you before now; the utterances contained in this letter place us both on holy ground, for the eyes of God the Almighty are upon us. I do not believe that you covet your election; but what I grieve for is the utter lack of consideration and investigation. Your position as Representative General made it imperative for you to consider, investigate, question, and learn if in America your brother, our Revered Murshid, had conferred upon myself, or any other mureed he may have chosen, the right of mystical succession as the Esoteric Head of the Sufi Order.

I have spoken now regarding the Western World, and though you may not accept what I have written concerning this election, it matters not, for God and Those who form His Holy Embodiment (the Hierarchy) know the truth of these statements; this suffices.

“Claims do not make the Teacher, it is his teaching.” (Nirtan)

When your Blessed Brother, our Revered Murshid, saw fit to confer his last, holiest, degrees upon me, it was to God and the Holy Ones Who form his Embodiment that my prayers went forth, and through them I constantly find my inspiration and spiritual solace. It was also for this reason I wrote Mr. Dussaq that there was nothing the organization of the Sufi Movement could possibly bestow upon me that had not already been conferred by our Holy Murshid. My prayer to the Beloved Allah is that I may not be compelled to take an independent course through any violation of the holy traditions laid down by our Revered Murshid (on whom be everlasting Peace). He gave his life to unite humankind in the Fatherhood of God, and it is our highest spiritual duty to consider the least or the most advanced of his mureeds, for whom he sacrificed all he possessed.

In the Name of Allah the Merciful and Compassionate. May bless us above all with spiritual insight and an understanding heart, the first fruits of the spirit. These are my spoken and written in the Name of the Almighty and of our Revered Pir-o-Murshid.

Faithfully yours,

(Signed) (Murshida) Rabia A. Martin

(Copied by the Recorder at Int. Hdqrs. in January, 1930, being the first information I had of the existence of this letter.)

Khushi Marya Cushing,

Recorder.

[Most likely written by Samuel L. Lewis for Murshida Martin—Wali Ali Meyer 2005]