Spiritual Vicegerency

Inner vicegerency (khilafa) is hidden from most people because it is generated and actualized by the names of the Real…You should also know that inner vicegerency is the allegiance of the cosmos to the one who, in his essence, is made by God to be a realizer of the names of the Real. Such is the one whose form combines the two bows. He is like the “Basmala” of existence, without whom existence would be cut off. For the holy Prophet (s) says: “Every important matter that does not begin with the Basmala is cut off [of blessings].” (Ibn Maja, Sunan).

The vicegerent is the center of the cosmos, and “all things revolve around” his “orbit.” (Q Anbiyaʾ 21:33) “All things” are forms derived from his form. Spirits are branches of his spirit. He possesses the Staff of the Alif, the Crown of Gnosis, the Seal of the Lam of Contraction (lam al-qabḍ), and the Mantle of the Haʾ of Ipseity (haʾ al-huwiyya).

God’s vicegerency on earth occurs when the lordship of your higher spirit rules over the earth of your lower body, so that your spirit possesses dominion over your body. You rule through God’s revealed Law over the body such that your bodily parts are in a state of security and they acquiesce to their Lord.

Your body is thus your kingdom. The heart is its king. The organs are its subjects. You must therefore appoint the light of the Almighty as the vicegerent over your heart, then establish its rule over the subjects of your organs, because it is the reality of God’s unswerving revealed Law.

God says: “A Messenger has indeed come unto you from your own selves. Troubled is he by what you suffer, solicitous of you, kind and merciful unto the believers.” (Q Tawba 128). That is, the light of his essential identity that is deposited within you is identical to the innate disposition which God created all mankind upon.

Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi Al Karkari (Kaf al-astar)