Layla-e-Khorassan

Layla-e-Khorassan

By Dani

Ya Nabi, Ya Habib

Ya Nabi, Ya Habib

Bismi Huwa, Huwa, Huwa, Allah, Allah, Allah!

Salam Mahabba, my fellow wayfares, my beloved sisters and brothers in the Thariqat of Islam, the Most Perfect Way towards fana' and baqa'.

Last night, as I was submerged in intense Muraqaba, I was inspired by the Beloved subhan Huwa ta'ala, Who has no partner in His Munificence (Jalaliyya), Beauty (Jamaliyya), and Existential Reality (Zat), to pass the following message about His Beloved, the Holy Prophet salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam, into your beautiful hearts.

But, oh, before I proceed with what follows, please, do not share this with the unworthy who will only abuse the reality of the message. Just don't be afraid to intensify your love for our beloved Nabi salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam, your Father (Adam) in the Realm of al-Haqiqat, even amidst the great fitna spread so intensely (especially nowadays) by those who follow the Wahhabi mazhab. These extreme people (ghullat) have even declared visiting the blessed tomb of our Master, the Holy Prophet salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam, to be haram, not to mention their saying it is shirk to recite salawat and salam upon him salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam excessively! Na'udzubillah!

How can this be when Allah subhan Huwa ta'ala says (in QS. al-Ma'idah: 35), "Find a Wasila (Means) of approaching Him"?

How can this be when he himself salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam is the Ultimate Giver of Intercession (Syafa'at) and the Most Supreme Manifestation of Allah's Names (Asma')?

How can this be when it is written upon each of the Feet of the Throne (Arsy),

"La ilaha ill Allah, Muhammad Rasulullah, ayyadtuhu bi 'Ali"?

("There is no god save Allah, Muhammad is His Knower (Messenger), I support him with 'Ali"?)

How can a Lover not wet his lips with words of love for his Beloved?

Is there such a thing as "excessive love" in the shadowless realm of the heart?

Indeed, infinite blessings and peace be upon him salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam!

The Hijab has been lifted for us, Lovers,
And oh, at last, the Full Moon is seen at her brightest!

Skies have been unfolded and horizons have vanished,
For they are ashamed of their existence in the Presence of the Beloved!

O blind, ignorant, dehydrated men!
Behold, if you can, the Light of the Beloved alone overcomes all shadows!

Let us polish our hearts again today by sending our utmost longing to the Noble Soul of the Master and Summit of existences, the Holy Prophet Muhammad salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam. May our longing-filled tears wipe clean the thick veils of dust which have gathered upon our hearts, because, oh by my Beloved subhan Huwa ta'ala in Whose Reality my soul is at rest, the heart's right is to reflect His Beloved's Light, Nur Muhammad, and the spirit's right is to be intoxicated by the Secret of Secrets (Sir al-Asrar).

Ya Nabi salam 'alayka,
Ya Rasul salam, salam 'alayka,
Ya Habib salam 'alayka,
Shalawatullah 'alayka...

O Prophet, peace be upon you,
O Messenger, peace, peace be upon you,
O Beloved, peace be upon you,
Blessings of Allah be upon you...

Thala'a al-badru 'alayna,
Min tsaniyyat al-wada',
Wajaba al-syukr 'alayna,
Ma da'a lillahi da'...

The Full Moon has arisen for us,
Shining from behind the hill of wada',
Let us express our gratitude to her (him),
For the One who speaks of Allah has come...

Anta syamsun anta badrun, ya Rasul Allah,
Anta nurun fawqa nuri, ya Habibina,
Anta iksiru al-wujud, ya Sayyidina,
Anta mishbahu, mishbahu shuduri, ya Mawlana...

You are the Sun, you are the Full Moon, O Prophet of Allah,
You are the Light upon Light, O my Beloved,
You are the Haqiqat of Being, O my Master,
You are the Lantern, (oh) Lantern of the heart, O my Patron...

Asyraqa al-badru 'alayna,
Fa ikhtafat minhu al-budur,
Mitsla husnik ma ra'ayna, ya Mashuq,
Qaththu ya wajh al-surur...

The Full Moon has arisen for us,
Outshining all other moons,
We have never seen a Beauty like you, O Beloved,
No, never, O Radiant Face...

Ya habibi ya Muhammad,
Ya 'arusy al-khafiqayn,
Ya mua'yyad ya mumajjad,
Ya imam al-qiblatayn...

O my Beloved, O Muhammad,
O Bridegroom of the East and the West,
O the One Supported and Glorified (by al-Haqq),
O Imam of the Two Qiblas...

Ya Nabi salam 'alayka,
Ya Rasul salam, salam 'alayka,
Ya Habib salam, a'layka,
Shalawatullah 'alayka...

O Prophet, peace be upon you,
O Messenger, peace, peace be upon you,
O Beloved, peace be upon you,
Blessings of Allah be upon you...

Know, my beloved sisters and brothers, that Allah subhan Huwa ta'ala first manifested, from the Uncreated Primordial Light of His own Beauty (Jamaliyya), the Light of the Holy Prophet Muhammad salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam. As the following Hadith Qudsi declares,

"Verily, I have manifested the Essential Reality of Muhammad from the Light of My own Wajh (Manifestation)."

In the exceedingly beautiful Surah ad-Dhuha of al-Qur'an al-Karim, He, our Lover, Beloved, and Love subhan Huwa ta'ala, says,

"Wa'd-dhuha..."

("By the Glorious Morning Light...")

(QS. ad-Dhuha: 1)

Know that this Light is none other than the Light of His Beloved salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam, for whose sake, the (hidden and manifest) worlds came into being. This is the Light of Comprehension, the Essential, Most Rarified Light of al-Ma'rifat (Knowledge), by which Man shall see al-Mashuq, the Beloved subhan Huwa ta'ala, as He desires to be seen. By the Beloved of my heart and soul subhan Huwa ta'ala, it is for this sake that He subhan Huwa ta'ala places Man in this realm of evolutionary processes whose end-point is al-Ihsan (Direct Witnessing). Hal 'arafta qimata nafsika? Do you not realize your reality? He subhan Huwa ta'ala says in a Hadith Qudsi,

"Innama khalaqtu al-akwana kullaha laka, ya Mahbub... Kullu al-assya' syajaratun wa anta al-tsamar..."

("I have created the worlds (Universe) for you, O (My) Beloved... Verily, everything is but a tree, and you are the Fruit..." )

Allah subhan Huwa ta'ala continues,

"...wa'l-laili idza saja..."

("...by the Night when she is still...")

(QS. ad-Dhuha: 2)

Oh, my beloved friends, know that by "the Night when she is still", Allah subhan Huwa ta'ala means the Bride of the Light (the Holy Prophet salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam), when she is enraptured, bedazzled, by the Beauty of that Light, her Beloved. This refers to the sublime state known as Wajd (Ecstasy), which is granted by He subhan Huwa ta'ala upon the worthy, those who tirelessly seek the doors into the Realm of Intimacy with Ikhlas, Sabr, and Tawadhu, where they, at last, shall be granted the Pure Vision of the Unveiled Beauty of the Beloved (of their Beloved salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam) subhan Huwa ta'ala.

For those who realize (truly know) that the Holy Prophet salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam is the Ultimate Wasila (Means) of Kasyf (Unveiling), let us recite, from within the depths of our hearts and souls, the following Durud-e-Taj, which is especially popular among the Sufis of the Indian subcontinent, especially those of the Naqshbandiyya, Qadiriyya, and Chishtiyya,

Allahumma salli `ala sayyidina wa mawlana wa habibina Muhammad salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam,

sahibi al-taji al-ma'rifat wal-mi`raji wal-buraqi wal-`alam,

dafi` al-bala'i wal-waba'i wal-qahti wal-maradi wal-alam,

ismuhu maktubun marfu`un mashfu`un manqushun fi al- lawhi wal-qalam,

sayyidi al-`arabi wal-`ajam,

jismuhu muqaddasun mu`attarun mutahharun munawwarun fil-bayti wal-haram,

shams al-duha badr al-duja sadr al`ula nur al-huda,

kahf al-wara misbah al-zulam,

jamil al-shyam shafi` al-umam sahib al-judi wal-karam,

wallahu subhan Huwa ta'ala `asimuhu wa jibrilu khadimuhu wal-buraqu markabuhu,

wal-mi`raju safaruhu wa sidratu al-muntaha maqamuhu,

wa qaba qawsayni matlubuhu,

wal-matlubu maqsuduhu wal-maqsudu mawjuduhu,

sayyid al-mursalin khatim al-nabiyyin,

shafi` al-mudhnibin anis al-gharibin,

rahmatun li al-`alamin,

rahat al-`ashiqin murad al-mushtaqin,

shams al-`arifin siraj al-salikin misbah al-muqarrabin,

muhibb al-fuqara' wal-masakin,

sayyid al-thaqalayn,

nabiyy al-haramayn,

imam al-qiblatayn,

wasilatina fi al-darayn,

sahibi qaba qawsayn,

mahbub rabbi al-mashriqayni wal-maghribayn subhan Huwa ta'ala,

jadd al-Hasani wa'l-Husayn,

mawlana wa mawla al-thaqalayn,

Abi al-Qasimi MUHAMMAD Ibni `Abdillah,

Nurin min Nurillah,

ya ayyuha al-mushtaquna bi nuri jamalihi,

sallu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallimu taslima,

Allahumma salli `ala Muhammadin wa `ala ali Muhammadin wa sallim.

(My translation:)

O Allah, send sweet blessings and ultimate Peace upon our Master and Patron and Beloved Muhammad salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam,

The Possessor of the Crown of Knowledge and the Ascent and the Buraq and the Standard,

The Repeller of Affliction and (Cure for our) Disease and (Soothing Rain for our) Drought and Illness and Pain,

His name is written in exalted heights, served and engraved in the Tablet and the Pen,

The Master of all (of the Family of Adam), Arabs and non-Arabs,

Whose Vessel is sanctified, fragrant, and pure,

Illumined in the Ka'ba and the Sacred Domain,

The Sun of Ultimate Radiance, the Full Moon of Splendor in Darkness,

The First and Foremost One in the Highest Realities, the Light of Guidance,

The Cave of Refuge for Mortals, the Lamp that dispels the Night of existence,

The Best-Natured One, the Intercessor of Nations,

The Owner of Munificence and Generosity,

Allah subhan Huwa ta'ala is his Protector, Jibril is his Servant,

The Buraq is his Mount, the Ascent is his Voyage,

The Lote-Tree of the Furthermost Boundary is his station,

"Two Bow-Lengths or Nearer" is his intimate desire,

His desire is his Goal, and (truly) he has achieved his Goal,

The Master of the Messengers, the Seal of the Prophets,

The Intercessor of transgressors, the Loving Friend of strangers,

The Mercy unto the Worlds,

The Rest of those who burn with Love, the Goal of those who yearn,

The Resplendent Sun of Knowers, the Lantern of Wayfarers,

The Light of those brought near,

The Intimate Friend of the poor and destitute,

The Master of Humans, Angels, and Jinn,

The Prophet of the Two Holy Sanctuaries,

The Imam of the Two Qiblas,

Our Means in the Two Abodes,

The Possessor of Qaba Qawsayn,

The Beloved of the Lord of the Two Easts and the Two Wests subhan Huwa ta'ala,

The Grandfather of al-Hasan and al-Husayn,

Our Patron and the Patron of Humans, Angels, and Jinn,

Abu al-Qasim MUHAMMAD Son of `Abd Allah,

The Light of the Light of Allah,

O you who yearn for the Light of his Beauty,

Send sweet blessings and fragrant greetings of Peace,

Upon him and upon his Family.

May Allah's Delight be upon the Soul of the Holy Prophet salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam and may he salla Allahu 'alaihi wa alihi wa sallam intercede for this Faqir, and for all of you who read the foregoing words of Love.

O Prophet, O Beloved,
My soul, before it came into this veiled realm of shadows, loved you,
Even if this world wanted my withdrawal from this realm of yearning,
And my departure from your Lovers,
My feet would refuse to carry me away,
For they know the Beloved of my breath...

How could my soul betray your Beauty, O my Love,
And how could my heart not manifest a bit of its desire?

Why, O my heart, should you fear Love?
Are you afraid of the Sun that the Beloved is?
Are you afraid of the Full Moon that no eye has ever seen?
Are you afraid of the tides and ebbs of this shoreless Ocean of madness?

Are you, O my soul, afraid of the Dawn of Understanding in whose presence shadows tremble?
Are you afraid of the Dusk that hides the Door into the Bridal Chamber?
Are you afraid of the Marriage of all of life's seasons with the Beloved?

Why, O my Love, do you have to fear in your waiting for the Spring,
When the Fragrance of Love fills the air and moves the winds in passion?

Why, O Rafiqah, should you fear Love?

Why, O Dani, do you have to quiver like a stranger,
When the Beloved lives in you and you in him?

Why, O why?!
For you are the House of Secrets!

Be Love's Prisoner and kiss your own Perfection, O Majnun!

Last night the Beloved told me, from behind the Veil,

"O my Love, do not fear Love, do not fear Love, do not fear Love!
Do you not know that you are a shadow among my shadows?
Do you not know that you are Love's causeless Cause?

"O Friend of my Reality,
Will you not hold on to the Secret of Existence with me for a while?
Will you not end your silent suffering upon Love's thrashing floor,
Will you not mount your own longing towards your Beloved,
And greet your own Sun hidden in his Face?

"Look at me, for my eyes are upon your eyes!
Caress me, for your quivering hands are mine!
Feel me, for you are a Knower of my solitude...

"Kiss me tonight in your bedazzlement, O my Love,
Embrace me in your longing,
Come closer, oh closer still,
Until my burning desire for you is at rest in your heart's possession."

والله أعلم

Ishq,

Dani

The Last of Poets

The Last of Poets

Once in a chapter of my life, when silence was everyone's stranger and
when solitude had been deserted by many for the sake of superficial
merriment and temporary self-gratification, I saw a man whom people,
out of disgust and shallowness, called mad, facing an ancient gray
wall which stood as a monument reflecting the power of man's dignity
and had been erected by the hands, and moistened by the sweat, of the poets
who were ostracized by a society whose soul was lost somewhere between ignorance, shamelessness, and superfluousness.

It was a time when new ideas were no longer born, when melancholia
due to existential dread was ridiculed in the face of laziness and
conformity. It was a time when everything was taken for granted, when
life was no longer seen blossoming in the youthful among people. It
was a time when I found people pale in their business and superfluous
in their sensuousness and orientations.

I saw the viscid countenance of that period of ignorance upon the lonely man's furrowed forehead. To no one's enjoyment, I hearkened unto the silent whispers of the man who, living in the debris of his once shimmering dreams, now appeared crushed and broken, sinking limitlessly in his agony. In his eyes, however, I saw a glimmer of
hope betraying a sense of irony. Somehow, I saw love and understanding
not yet slain by bitter disappointments.

Unto the wall, I heard him utter these words,

O you silent witness of Man's decadence
Where is home for the stray falcon
Who knows not the taste of existing in herds
Whose domain is no longer upon the winds
And whose shelter no longer stands erect in the shades of the distant hills?

How much longer shall I bear your image, O Man?
In seclusion, I have desired the end of all distress and faltering
Yet a carcass, a hideous burden unto life's pristine beauty, has remained
As I continue to drag my will to live on like heavy chains

Is this what has become of you, O Man?
If so, indeed dead is my species!
Slain is Man's hope for liberty before the altars of the gods
Which Man has himself shaped from the driest portion of himself

In the buffeting of his silent sorrow, he closed his eyes and let the murmur of the pricking, cold night breeze divert him for a while from the web of age-long, deeply etched pain. Then, all of a sudden, he laughed as the rain descended from its throne in the heights that equally lacked earthly amusement. Somehow, I could sense that crippling laughter mingling with his inward ailment which, in his youth, had turned him into a lover of his own solitude, above anything else, beyond any obsession.

Thus, after a while, the Shadowless Man in him was awakened as he tasted the perpetual rain, in whose course the man was like a barren desert turning into a valley not devoid of the sun's affection and the seasons' love.

Then I heard him speak with utmost yearning, like a silence-breaking tempest, not in the shade of misery but from within his own silent existence,

Let there be one who knows the secret of the seas and possesses the dignity of the sky, who shall resurrect life within Man by echoing the death of the gods and the idols of this ridiculous world with pride

Let there be one with wings still unfolded, who shall not dwell in the prison of oblivion made by the dead and the rotten for the living and the passionate

Let there be one dear to life's own heart, who, with thunder in his voice, shall proclaim from the highest summit of confidence, life's larger desires for originality

Let there be one with a unique constellation of sentiments, who shall jeer at the superfluous people brimming only with the dead and their values

Let there be one with the greatest thirst for life, whose mad longing for beauty shall quench the dehydrated among people

Let there be one who does not mind incinerating himself in a madness that burns into its own ashes, who shall show the way of beauty, thereby becoming a doorway unto intoxication and a living image of love's fulfillment

Let there be a loner among the superficial, who shall show the world how to kiss the heart of the greater and deeper silence of life whose door is the morning mist, whose truth is kept in the heart of a desecrated mother and her fatherless infant, and whose beloved is the nightingale that, having witnessed life partitioned from life, weaves its nest with its own feathers

Let there be a freeman, a wanderer, among those who have only partially arrived at the essence of freedom and the heart of reason, who shall show that normed political ideals are not reflections of the laws of nature, but walls bounded by a ceiling of selfishness and hypocrisy whose destiny is to crack and crumble under the self-gravity of weighty, measured talks

Let there be a painter among the blind, who shall paint the landscape of existence with his breath and laughter above the clamor of the world and with his blood and tears beneath the feet of death

Let there be a musician among the deaf, who shall not withhold the hidden song that deepens and softens the spirit against that which murders the song-bird within Man

Let there be among the sleepwalkers a prophet whose passion for life shall resurrect dead hearts and whose path to life shall be spanned by his knowledge of intimacy

Let there be among the slumbering and the motionless, a restless wayfarer whose reality is one with the invisible winds that scatter the dust of the earth into deep space to be kissed by the light of the distant stars

Let there be a poet among the insensitive, whose words shall speak unto the ear of their ears, whose wounded heart bears the taste of wine to be remembered by those who are not ashamed of life's nakedness

Let there be one bearing the Truth within himself, who, in his silent knowledge of existence, shall lend his light of understanding to others, thereby returning love that is homesick to its abode

Let there be a true lover of life among the tyrants of the world, who, enfolded in the solitude of the crucified, shall see every human child as a shrine of innocence and beauty, and who shall be capable of falling in love with the most fragile of souls whose days on earth are briefer than the most tender of spring butterflies that lovingly yields its life to the transience of the winds

Let there be among you, O people, a madman who, emerging from the loneliest depths of reality, shall fulfill the desires of the tides of life and drift the others away from the ebbs of humanity

Let there be among you, O cowards, a martyr who shall be killed in his alienation by his own understanding of love in the darkest and most songless hours of the night, whose death shall span the dawn of a new morning, whose song shall be sung by every new-born and the winged among you, and whose heart shall be enthroned upon every heart

Let there be among you, O carcasses, a weightless beauty that shall rise with the dawn from the east, whose radiance shall unveil the face of the night, and whose presence shall be a window of the morning light

Upon saying this, he turned his gaze towards the sky with glistening eyes, motionless. Then he knelt down with certain heaviness, like an exhausted grave digger. I approached him silently, not to greet him with soothing words of sympathy, but to cry with him in his infinite silence. And when his breath had mingled with mine secretly in the darkness of the night, and not like two strangers unto each other, I placed his trembling body in my arms.

Then with a ghostly tenderness and the splendor of a fragile life that did not intimidate the soul, he said unto me, with a smile and a tear,

People only see the misery of an endless winter and the restlessness of insanity's waves in me
But child, I am all right, you see
I love this tempest that burns and bathes my soul more than I love contentment

Thus spoke the last of poets.

(By Dani, 4 November 2007)