state. In his dream, he saw his grandfather, Mufti Razā ꜤAlī Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه giving him a small chest and saying, “Soon, the person who will cure your aching heart will come.”

The very next day, Maulana Shāh ꜤAbd al-Qādir Badāyūnī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه came and took Imam Aḥmad Razā Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه with him to Marehra Sharīf. Reaching Marehra station, Imam Aḥmad Razā Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه said, “The scent of a true murshid is coming my way.”^[1]

سُـبْحٰـنَ الـلّٰــه Look at the state of the true murid. He was yet to become a murid, but he could already sense the fragrance of the murshid. At the station, Imam Aḥmad Razā Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه bathed at a travel lodge, changed his clothes and proceeded to the Barakātiyyah spiritual lodge.

The imam arrived in the court of the spiritual master Shāh Āl-i-Rasūl Marehrawi رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه, who upon seeing him exclaimed, “Come! We have been waiting for many days.”^[2]

اللہُ اَکْبَر Dear Islamic brothers, think for a moment. The true murid sensed the scent of a true murshid from the station, and the latter had also been waiting for many days.

Imam Aḥmad Razā Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه gave an oath of allegiance and was immediately conferred with license and spiritual successorship in the Qādirī, Chishtī, Suharwardī and Naqshbandī chains. In short, he was conferred these honours in all spiritual chains at once by Shāh Āl-i-Rasūl Marehrawi رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه. He also presented him with sacred relics that had been transmitted from pious predecessors and a small chest containing invocations. Notice how Imam Aḥmad Razā Khān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه had only just