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Testimonial of Tawfiq Haqaq, Ph.D.,

Testimonial of Tawfiq Haqaq, Ph.D.,

      This testimony appeared in “Burooq Wa Ru’ood,” issue 2, year 1, 1968.

      In this era, people seem to belong to two camps: In the first camp, God appears on their lips, but their hearts are far away from Him and their faith is reduced to inherited superficial traditions and rituals. Traditions that are far away from the essence of religions and rituals that create division that drive people away from virtue, love, justice, goodness, and from God. The second camp is lost in the darkness of materialism. They have rejected the existence of the Spirit and refrained from idealistic values.

      At this age, where people have lost the path to righteousness and resorted to fight over land that will not provide their souls with any benefit, heavenly mercy descended on people and a shining Light appeared in their midst—a light that is seen only by those who are able to see and are not blinded by materialism and human indulgence. Truth is like a sun whose existence is not predicated on the affirmation or denial of the blind. The miracles, accomplishments, and the Spiritual calling of Dr. Dahesh, is a truth that has been shining like a sun for over 25 years. This truth cannot be denied except by those who had their eyes covered and with perversity in their hearts. It is a truth that is wide open to the vision and hearing and forces itself despite those who oppose it.

      Someone may ask: What have you earned from your Daheshism? Has it fed you after being starved, clothed you after being naked, or made you rich after being poor? Has it promised that you will inherit the earth and everything on it? Or, are you going to stage revolutions that will shake the world so that you can bequeath it in one chunk to your replacement? This is what many have been saying for years, because they have no desires in life other than the ones benefiting of the mortal body and to fulfill the needs of a trivial materialistic objective. So, they have made allegations against Daheshism and called its founder by the silliest of phrases and degrading names. However, all Daheshists didn’t care for all such trivial things and faced their adversaries with rare patience and courage. They have exposed themselves to their adversaries and are willing to be stabbed while a smile appears on their face. They do this, because they are believers in what is right, a right that gives them the immunity against the most demeaning attacks. They are more like a solid rock that fends off the attacks of sea waves.

      The reasoning given by the believers in our unshaken faith is an appeal to others to come see for themselves on a hope that they would become believers. Our believers are not afraid of being hung, crucified, or subjected to other types of torture. Such intimidations will only serve to bring us closer to perfection—a goal we all seek.

      Had you felt what we feel and saw the things we see, you would have opened your hearts and not allow worthless inherited tradition and trivial rituals grab you by the neck and make you unbelievers. Some elect people, believe in divine messages through hearing, however others do not believe even if they have seen the Jinn kneel in front of them and bring them excessive wealth. Faith is a spiritual gift that is given to an individual with a transparent and pure heart; who has refrained from indulgence; who is full of love to all of his brothers in humanity; and who doesn’t discriminate between race, skin color, and religion.

      The Prophet Muhammad (may God’s peace be upon him) left behind to his companions his immortal mission only along with his promise of eternal paradises and lasting happiness to make them forget their suffering in life. By doing so, he has opened to them vast spiritual horizons that made them sacrifice everything for it. Daheshists believe in what Prophets said all along since the dawn of history and see themselves face to face with a new truth and with “Truth” taking the form of God’s Messenger who asks them to believe in God, His messengers and angels, and the Day of Judgment and that they should dedicate themselves to doing good—even if it meant their being subjected to persecution by the entire world.

      If they were Buddhists, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Muslims, or Christians, then all that is required is doing good and to be an inspiration to others, because Daheshists do not require anyone to change his belief, but rather to solidify and strengthen it and to steer away from the materialism that is widespread in this world.

      If we are asked about the miracles of our Great Beloved, we would respond by saying to them that the miracles are performed right in front of their eyes and that they should come to witness them with a clean heart and after eliminating all illusions and hearsay from their minds, because we are the type that believe only in what we see with our own eyes and accept only what truthful individuals convey to us. We have suffered considerably for the sake of our beliefs. We have been accused of vile things, imprisoned, and became outcasts. The more persecution we faced, the stronger our beliefs became and we would never renounce our faith even if we were given the sun and the moon.

      Do you want us to say that we live in an amazing spiritual setting that earth has never experienced? Do you want us to say: That Spirits live in our midst and unveil to us the secrets of the universe that rockets and satellites have failed to unveil? That whatever knowledge you have attained will not be able to explore the depth of the Spiritual World that we have come to know? That had you believed in the Eternal Creator and let go of your superstitions and immoralities you would have been able subordinate matter? That your love for wealth blinded you by placing a veil over your eyes and prevented you from seeing the light? Wake up people, for in your midst there is a persistent Caller for righteousness, so that your feet can touch the threshold of love and brotherhood before it is too late.

Miracles of our Prophet:

      As I go back in memory for twenty-five years, to a period in my youth where I was full of curiosity and searching for the truth. I remember my first meeting with the Great Beloved in his residence, in a Beirut neighborhood. During my visit, I found myself surrounded by an elite group of intellectuals: Halim Dammous, the poet; Youssef El-Hajj; Abdullah El-Alayli, the scholar; Professor Bishr Faris; the famous Dr. George Khabsa; Daniel Oliver, the British orientalist; Viscount Philip De Tarazi, the founder of the Beirut Public Library; and many other important people from Lebanese and Arabic circles. I was then very daring and bold. I would argue, examine things closely, and not accept what I see easily without referring back to my father, may God have mercy on his soul, and my mind. I would not accept any spiritual miracle at its face value, but rather, I would examine and study it. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the miracles of Dr. Dahesh were far away from sleight of hand deceptions and are not related to any discipline not whatsoever. They are real miracles that human minds and powers can never reproduce no matter how capable they are. In this manner, I was like a person lost in the desert and seeing a mirage, however, soon after I have realized that what I am seeing is reality. What is astonishing to me was the modesty of Dr. Dahesh—no matter how great his accomplishments were in the eyes of his followers.

      The first miracle that I have seen carries within it the meaning of great love that lives within the heart of this great human being. I will refrain from mentioning the name of the individual who is the object of this miracle in order to avoid any embarrassment: One night, I visited Dr. Dahesh at his house in Beirut while suffering from melancholy. Some people were the cause in my separation from a person that I love. All of a sudden, Dr. Dahesh was taken by the Spirit and said to me: “Tawfiq, you seem to be worried about your sweetheart because she is away from you and her parents refuse to allow you to marry her. What can I do to make you happy? Do you want me to bring her to you here in this room?” Halim Dammous, jumped up as if he has been electrified and before I had a chance to utter a single word in response to this offer and he said: “No Tawfiq, don’t do it, because you’ll cause so much trouble for yourself. Ask for something else…” I immediately responded by saying “at least, I would like to have her photo.” Dr. Dahesh smiled and said: “so be it, my friend. Give me your cigarette pack.” I cut up the white top of my cigarette pack, folded it, and wrote down my request from the Spirit. In a blink of an eye, the photo of my sweetheart appeared on the paper from the cigarette pack. The pose was that of my sweetheart standing in front of her house. All the people present were astonished and Halim Dammous proceeded to document this miracle in the “Daheshist Chronicles.”

      That night, as usual, I was full of doubts and questions. My father’s attitude made things worse, because he refused to believe that this miracle took place and went on to accuse me of having some sort of a hidden interest that ties me to Dr. Dahesh. The next day, when I visited the Great Beloved, he was taken by the Spirit and said to me: “Give me the photo.” Although he didn’t say it, but I read in his eyes him saying: “do you doubt what you saw?” He took the photo and stroked it with his fingers and the paper turned white. He stroked it again and a photo of my sweetheart in a different pose appeared. She is now holding a cat in her hand. I kept that photo for over twenty years until the time my wife, may God forgive her, tore it out of jealousy.

      I would never forget an amazing miracle that took place and witnessed by the individuals I mentioned earlier. Dr. Daniel Oliver was the overseer of an orphanage in a remote Lebanese mountain location. Because of the war, Dr. Oliver did not receive the fund transfer he is due—after all, it was 1942. The orphans were in dire need for help and no one available to help. He was very worried and wondered what should be done to get some funds in order to keep things going at the orphanage. A Spiritual Session took place while we were together, where Dr. Dahesh was taken by the Spirit and in a matter of seconds; the pockets of Dr. Oliver became full of money. He couldn’t believe what he saw and started to touch the huge sum of money to make sure it is real—a sum that amounted to 23,000 Lebanese Pounds, which is the amount of fund transfer that he was expecting. What was so strange about this miracle is the completion of this transaction through wire transfers to the Bank of Lebanon and Syria in a Spiritual way. Dr. Oliver and his friends confirmed that the bank transaction took place. This miracle occurred in the presence of twenty-three persons. Among the witnesses were Dr. Tawfik Rizq, the owner of the famous Rizq Hospital in Beirut and Edward Noon, the ex-minister of parliament and lawyer.

      Among the miracles that I have witnessed and attended by most of the people I mentioned and centered on Viscount Philip De Tarazi, who declared that he doesn’t believe in miracles or anything that has to do with the Spirit. Dr. Dahesh told him while sitting next to him “Tell me, what would you like?” So, Philip thought for a few seconds and said: “I have an expensive, rare, and ancient Arabic script that I keep in my residence. Bring it to me and I’ll believe in the existence of the Spirit.” Dr. Dahesh was taken by the Spirit, leaned towards him, and held his hand saying: “Take it, here it is.” We all were astonished to see the ancient script, with its black cover, present in their hands, while poor Philip started to shake and then reached to his pockets and pulled out a ring of old keys that included the key to his metal safe where he kept the rare and expensive scripts.”

      Once, we were sitting at the dining table having the most delicious of foods and Dr. Dahesh was sitting at its head eating vegetables. Dr. Dahesh was taken by the Spirit and asked us if we would like to have a tasty Spiritual drink. When we did not answer, he smiled and he looked at the water pitcher and we did as well. All of a sudden, the transparent water has turned into a sweet red wine. We all tasted it, however, doubt got the most out of me and I thought that I am under the power of suggestion, so I went to the bathroom to wash my face several times and then returned after five minutes or so only to see the wine still in the pitcher with its luscious taste and unusual aroma. It is worthy to note here that Daheshists do not favor drinking, most of them follow a vegetarian diet consisting of fresh vegetables and fruits, and most Daheshists do not smoke.

      Another miracle took place during the transmutation of water into wine that left a lasting impression on us: While we were having food at the table, Youssef El-Hajj walked in carrying a birdcage containing two nightingale birds. He said that he just brought them from the village and he cares for them so much, because they keep his company. Dr. Dahesh asked him to put them in the kitchen. In a matter of minutes, the Dr. addressed Youssef wondering why the birds are quiet. Youssef went to the kitchen and came back with marks on his face that reflected the sadness of his heart and said briefly: “the birds are dead.” We all stood up except for Dr. Dahesh and rushed to the kitchen to see the birds lying motionless on their back at the base of the birdcage. We returned to the table and continued our meal, this time in silence to be respectful of Youssef’s feelings, who had his head down and took to food in such a way as to compensate for his sadness. The loving heart of Dr. Dahesh comforted him saying: “Don’t be sad my brother. Go to the kitchen and you’ll see the birds singing.” So it was.

      It is only appropriate to mention one last miracle that took place during one of the Spiritual Sessions: While we were gathered in a closed room, a huge rock began to slowly descend into the room in a Spiritual way and in front of many believers. What is so strange about this was that all windows and the door were locked and with security metal bars that would prevent a rock this size to pass through.

      Aside from these miracles, I have witnessed many since I have returned to the Spiritual path only days since my return to Lebanon from the United States. If I had a chance to elaborate further, I would have. Since our knowledge in science and Spirituality is limited, and since the Spirit is by order of my God, I would leave the explanation of such miracles to those who are knowledgeable, for they know their content and importance for this materialistic world that is about to destroy itself. They would have to decide if such miracles act as a warning to those who follow materialism or as good news to those who are spiritual.