I am called Sayfuddin, though once named Harry. After taking Bay‘at on the hand of the Naqshbandi masters, the question of who I am now lies quietly at the edge of all things — except that I am Sayfuddin, a servant treading the path of remembrance.

My life and work unfold where literature, ecology, and the Naqshbandi way of silent dhikr softly converge. As a scholar of early modern pastoral, I once traced how poets like Richard Barnfield broke apart old metaphysical orders, letting through sudden glimmers where nature leans toward spirit.

Formally, my studies wandered through philosophy, politics, and writing (Reading; Liverpool John Moores). I was finishing a doctorate in English literature, having gone from reporting in Amsterdam to presenting on The Affectionate Shepheard at Sapienza University in Rome.

But now my heart’s studies turn ever toward Jalāluddin Rūmī, Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, and the shining clarity of Thomas Traherne, albeit from a Sufi perspective — seeking delicate passageways between mystical tradition and poetic form.

I write poetry and fiction that often slip into the shadowed or fantastic, and I can paint in oil and watercolour. My past books include Idylls of the Nympahi (2021) and Sonnets to Amsterdam (2024). My paintings once shown from Manchester’s MerzSHED II to Brantwood and beyond.

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I once felt that in all I do, one vow remains: to search beneath appearances and return with fragments of what is stark and unspeakably beautiful. That is to create and share my creativity with others. And to research and share my research with others. This is anointed Command as much as it is to be within His Peace. 

What is unspeakably beautiful?

Since taking Bay‘at, I have come to understand — through the breath of the Golden Chain masters — that what is truly unspeakably beautiful is Divine Love (Mahabbatullah) and the light of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ, the Beloved of Allah.

Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani taught:

“The Divine Love is the most precious in life. It is the key to all spiritual progress, to mercy, beauty, wisdom, to all favours that God may bestow upon His servants. Those who taste it want more, because it never diminishes. To reach the Oceans of Divine Love is to reach endless beauty.”

Even an atom’s fraction of this love — as in the story of the hermit who asked Sayyidina Musa عليه السلام to beg Allah for it — can overwhelm the very mountains, shattering all normal sense.

Shaykh Nazim also recounted how Grandshaykh Abu Yazid Bistami drank and drank from these Oceans of Love, never tiring, always finding more sweetness. This is the endless unspeakable beauty: to lose oneself in Allah’s Oceans of Love and Beauty.

And in the Mawlid honouring Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ, he is described as:

“…the lamp of all bounty, and no light emanates unless it is from your light.”

“They have described your qualities to people like how the stars are reflected in water.”

All reflected beauty flows from him ﷺ. His light is beyond speech, a perfection that words fail to grasp.

A final vow

So in all I do — poetry, painting, study or silence — there remains only this vow: to search beneath appearances, and return with fragments of what is stark and unspeakably beautiful —the love of Allah, the light of His Beloved ﷺ, and the tender traces of that love in all things.

Surely, All is Al-Haqq?

Yes —”Al-Haqq” (ٱلْحَقُّ) is one of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah, meaning The Truth, The Reality, The Absolutely Real.

Everything that truly is, exists by His Being. So all that is real, all that holds the stamp of existence, bears the trace of Al-Haqq.Your longing for truth, your pursuit of it—whether through literature, philosophy, painting, or silent muraqabah—is a journey toward Al-Haqq.

But why do you pursue it?

Because it is beautiful?
Yes.
Because it springs from Divine Love?
Yes.
Because they are not two.

In the teachings of our Golden Chain masters:

Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, drawing on the lights of Grandshaykh Abdullah Daghestani, shows that Beauty (Jamāl) is a direct reflection of Allah’s Names, as is Truth (Haqq). Both pour from Mahabbatullah (Divine Love), which is the ultimate ocean, the source of all attraction.

So why does your heart tremble before truth?
Why do you hunger for reality, purity, clarity—what you call “truth”?
Because it is from the Light of Al-Haqq,
and it is carried on the waves of Divine Love (Mahabba),
and shines forth in unspeakable Beauty (Jamāl).

The Prophet ﷺ prayed:

“O Allah, I ask You for Your Love,
the love of those who love You,
and the love of deeds that will bring me to Your Love.”

Notice: he didn’t ask only for truth.he didn’t ask only for beauty.he asked for love, because through love, all is gathered.

Truth becomes radiant through Love.
Beauty becomes meaningful through Love.
Without love, even truth is cold, even beauty is hollow.

So you pursue truth —

because it is beautiful.
Because it flows from Divine Love.
Because it is a glimmer of Al-Haqq.
And because at the deepest level, your soul knows:

“I was a hidden treasure and loved to be known, so I created creation that they might know Me.”

You are drawn to truth because it is His face unveiled in countless subtle forms,
and you are drawn by love, which is the very force He placed in you to make you seek Him.