[Joesred]

Only God exists ultimately--a 'reflection' of this oneness is the number one in maths, which makes all numbers without losing its uniqueness-- and this is only one 'reflection'--the universe is full of God's 'reflections' (anvaar); therefore fana fi shaikh is ultimately fana fi-Allah just as fana fi Rasul too is ultimately fana fi-Allah--because God alone exists ultimately, really. When a Mureed forgets himself in the love of his Shaikh (or Rasul-Ullah) he transcends the duality/relativity of 'you' and 'me' to attain Oneness, i.e. God. The whole world becomes a theophany, tajalli, for such a person, which he does not confront as a confronting other--such a person becomes what he beholds. That is why a true Shaikh appears to be different every time you see him--according to your own spiritual state.

Shadhili Shaikh Isa Nurudin Ahmad (Frithjof Schuon) has pointed out that the first part of the kalma is a message while the second part is a person-- both are theophanies, hence the two approaches --the Deobandi Zahiri Sharia of a Mullah through the message and the Barelwi Batini Tariqa of a Sufi through the person; one about learning tauheed (through the mind) and the other about drinking on tauheed (through the heart).

One Fana fi-Rasul Shaikh-i-Kamil alive today is Idrisi shaikh Hazrat Al-Shaikh Al-Hafiz Amin bin Abdul Rahman (Rahmat-Ullah alaih) at 381-A, Shah Rukn-i-Alam Colony, New Multan. Go and see him once to know what Aulia look and feel like. Idrisia stemmed from Shadhilia in the 18th century; Shadhilia stemmed from Qadiria in the thirteenth.