Michel Vâlsan
Guénon’s Guénon’s work in Orient We have been aware for several years that René Guénon’s work became more and more familiar to the intellectuals, and more especially to the university circles, in the Indo-Pakistan world world! It is time, we think, to take note, in a chronicle, of several characteristic facts "r "ohammad #assan $skar%, professor in &n'lish literature at the Islamic (olle'e )*niversity of +arachi, who, in the past years, published in &n'lish an article about Guénon and his life, ust wrote in *rdu *rdu )official lan'ua'e in Pakistan Pakistan two little little books . ! $ repertoire of about /00 errors committed committed by the moderns re'ardin' the traditional doctrines and realities1 / $ short history on the development of modern mentality 2he author presented his work, last year, to "ufti "ohammad (haf%3, president of the 45ru-l*l6m of +arachi who, findin' the content very relevant, added it to the pro'ram of studies for the academic year of !789-!787 4urin' the three months of the last fall semester, Prof "ohammad 2a:% )the president’s son who became in char'e of that development, took the te;ts as the base of his course, very much attended by the way, which continued in !787 2he follow followin' in' senten sentence ce was taken taken from from these these teach teachin' in's. s. "oreover, the alteration caused by the modern mind is a lot less deeper than the Westerners believe, even those those with with a tradi traditio tional nal mental mentality ity,, who who let thems themselv elves es be too too easily easily impres impressed sed by the / superficial de'radations of the social style "r $skar% informs us at the same time of the fact that in India itself, youn' "uslims are more and and more more inte intere rest sted ed in trad tradit itio iona nall idea ideass as they they are are deve develo lope ped d by Guén Guénon on 2o bett better er understand the favorable particularities presented by that specific traditional re'ion )which corresponds to the 'eo'raphical notion of an <$sian sub-continent= we will :uote a few passa'es )adusted only from the verbal point of view of the past correspondence with "r $skar% who, by thinkin' of translatin' translatin' in *rdu several of our articles, was tellin' us the followin' re'ardin' the one called and this not only in the world, naturally restricted, of the contemplative order itself > of a humanity which continues undisturbed its millennial life of spiritual fidelity and, very fortunately, fortunately, no one seems to bother about it.
!7AB. the most remarkable ones comin' not from the e;oteric side but from the esoteric 'rand master (heikh $hmed Eirhind% $nd the defense of (heikh al-$kbar came not only from the esoteric side, but also from the 6 0e reproduce these terms with their local pronunciation. 9 3he initiatory path based on the virtue of pure desire for /eality re?uires some ?ualified human beings who not only have been preserved intact as far as their intimate spiritual substance is concerned, but also whose mental form has not been flawed by modern education, be it ?uasi traditional. 3he initiatory path based on the doctrinal understanding comprises a theorical formation, which develops the principial certainties and the intellective understanding.
e;otericH side. one of the best of these defenses came indeed from Eh5h $shraf $l% who filled incontestably the function of e;oteric authority while still bein', of course, also an esoteric masterJ #e dedicated two little books to that subect 2hus, we never missed respect and reverence towards (heikh al-$kbar #is @ut6h5t "ekkiyyah are often :uoted as references of authority in the e;oteric works published nowadays 2his is especially the case for the people belon'in' to the 45ru-l-*l6m of 4eobend who are known for their e;oteric orthodo;y and for their severity in this matter Lur 'roup is not hostile to the conception of the Wahdatu-l-wu6d 5 "ost people are silent with re'ard to this :uestion Cut this is the central theme of our traditional poetry in *rdu or in dialects like Punab%, Eindhi and Pushtu 2he inhabitants of our villa'es sin' the Wahdatul-wu6d every ni'ht Re'ardin' what you say about the :uestion of the traditional universality, pa'e B9, and about Guénon usin' #indu terms and concepts, allow me to make some remarks. a In the !Mth century, the prince 45r5 Ehik6h, son of the emperor Eh5h 4ah5n had already prepared a correspondence between the #indu esoteric terms and the Islamic terms 2his is a little book named "5-mau-l-Cahrayn )N 2he Reunion of the two Eeas81 the translation in *rdu is accessible even today for half a franc b (heikh $hmed Eirhind% himself reco'niDed the validity of the Oedic doctrines What he is doubtin' about are the possibilities of realiDation offered by the actual #induism c Eh5h Waliyullah ad-4ihlawi wrote about the Oedic doctrines in his book am5h5t that I already sent you d 2he most e;plicit document on that :uestion is a letter by #aDrat "aD3har 45n% 45n5n contemporary and friend of Eh5h ad-4ihlaw% )!9th century who belon'ed to the order of the "uaddidiyah Qa:chbandiyah and who was acknowled'ed by Eh5h ad4ihlaw% as a saint 'reater than himself, and who was also the (heikh of F5di 2han5ullah )all these masters bein' of indisputable orthodo;y 2hat authority admits the truth in the Oedic doctrines, but has reserves concernin' the current validity of the #indu tradition e $nother saint of the !9th century, Eh5h +5Dim Falandar wrote poetries on the theme of the Wahdatu-l-wu6d by usin' #indu terms and symbols #e is not the only one who has done such a thin' Cut I mentioned his name because his poems have been published with a detailed commentary 2he same could be said of the poems composed by his son Eh5h 2ur5b $l% Falandar in the !7th century We will stop here for now the :uotes taken from the rich and pictures:ue intellectual fresco that our correspondence with Prof $skar% offered us Cut we will refer to them a'ain soon enou'h on the subect of René Guénon Source: elkorg-projects.blogspot.com
5 3he doctrine of the @#nicity of Eistence.
B 3he term derives from the Cur+n 1, B:, where it designates the location of the meeting between !oses and Al-hadir. ;n the title of the boo( by Dr 8hi("h it is applied to the two traditions ;slam and Hinduism.
