Shemseddin Ahmed was a disciple of Murshid’s who lived in Pakistan. He was visited by the recently returned delegation. See thumbnail accompanying Moineddin’s March 25, 1979 letter for a list of the participants, which included Christopher Elber, Amanda Ristow, Rodney Krepps (Mansur), Lisa Katz, Nirtana Bluestein, Vasheest Davenport, Nancy Owens (Amina), David Bishop (Habib), Elizabeth Baker, Khudus McCarthy, Saadi Klotz, Khalida Boll.

NOOR MAHAL

April 24, 1979

Dearly Beloved Shemseddin Ahmed,

Your letter to my secretary, Fatima Roberts, of March 21 [copy enclosed, see below], is a testament to the workings of the living Allah. Who else but Allah, the Beloved, can divest man of his selfhood—removing even his most glaring shortcomings from his sight, and instill instead the divine manner and the vision of unity?

Fatima has written a perfect letter in reply to yours, so I won’t spend a lot of time going over ground already covered. Suffice it to say that Moineddin could not continue reading your letter to his class after the phrase”…They have left, it is almost a week and yet I feel drunken and lost…”—for one was blessed to have entered hal, and with every passing sentence one entered deeper into unity, alhamdulillah. The tears flowed freely and one had to give your letter to Hassan to continue reading.

The public showing of the slides taken of the pilgrimage, over 500 in all, added over $200.00 to our fund for the completion of Murshid Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti’s Maqbara Retreat Shelter. The man who I named after you, Shemseddin Peterson, will lead a group of six or seven carpenters next month at Lama Foundation in New Mexico where Murshid lies buried. We hope, inshallah, to consummate this project which was begun three years ago. We will try to send some photos to you of the Maqbara Shelter later this summer.

Also, Shemseddin, your idea to have members of the Sufi Islamia Ruhaiiat Society come to Pakistan to live and work—and perhaps as even to establish a branch of Murshid’s work there—reverberates very deeply in my being. Masheikh Wali Ali would seem to be a natural first choice, as I believe he has foreseen this prospect in vision ever since 1969 or so. (Indeed, Hazrat Inayat Khan has said that the Sufi Message was destined to go from the East to the West where it would take root and mature, and then its Western representatives would return with renewed spirit with the Living Message to the East.) May it be accomplished! Ya Moachir!

I intend to write to Sufi Barkat Ali in a few days, mostly to renew a lapse in correspondence, and to share with him my feelings that we are brothers-in-heart (Sahib-i-Dil) despite variances in background and culture. Your suggestion for real spiritual and cultural exchange bodes well to keep the doors to unity wide open inshallah!

Until later then, dear Shemseddin, keep well and may our prayers mingle in a single universal heart winging upwards to our Beloved Allah,

Ya Hayyo! Ya Qayyoom!

Moineddin

P.S. Much love and gratitude for the sincere hospitality shared with my wife Murshida Fatima, Sheikh Vasheest and all our brother and sister pilgrims.