Once a Sheikh (Sufi Master) came to Istanbul 
And went to the governing authority 
To ask permission to open a tekke or sufi lodge ... 

The Sheikh was asked how many dervish members he has 
And the reply was only one dervish, and the master himself ...

The authority found it odd
Yet an old rundown building was available and given to them ... 

The Sheikh with one dervish accepted it with open heart ...

Very soon there was enormous light coming from within the building 
Sound of dhikr could be heard every night and crowds would attend ...

The governing authorities wanted to know 
What this man was doing to draw so many people to him 
And what was this light that was reported coming from the old building ...

So the Sheikh was summoned ...

The officials said: 

We are the educated ones 
And we want to question you 
To make sure you are doing things correctly

 "All right", was the humble answer ...

"What is the meaning of la ilaha illa Allah ???" they asked ...

"Do you want the meaning as you understand it 
Or do you want the meaning as I understand it ???"

"We know how we understand it ... Tell us how you understand it"

"For this I need my one dervish 
The one I brought with me first time I came to this building"

They agreed and sat down as he and his dervish begin to make the dhikr ... 
When he said, "la ilaha", his dervish disappeared ... 
When he said, "illa Allah", he appeared ... 
When he said, "la ilaha" again, they both disappeared ... 
With "illa Allah" they reappeared ...

The last time he said, "la ilaha", the entire room disappeared ... 
And when he said, "illa Allah", everyone appeared ...

He turned to face the officials and said: "This is how I understand the dhikr"

When You Hear Hoofbeats Think of a Zebra 
By Shems Friedlander)

La ilaha (There is no God)  
If there is no God ... Then we do not exist 

illa Allah (But Allah) 
And if Allah exists ... He has created us and we appear ...

A major sufi practice is the dhikr or remembrance of the Divine 
By repeating the Divine Names/Sacred mantras such as 
La ilaha illa Allah, there is no reality except the Real

The reason underlying all reasons is to come to closeness 
Or nearness of the Divine ... 
And conscious remembrance is a path that brings to closeness ... 

There are people of higher stations 
Who while doing dhikr 
Have been transported from the Namer to the Named ... 

We have to become like the boat of Noah 
So that anyone who comes near us 
Anyone who touches us
Can be helped ...