Saturday, February 2, 2008

A Gift of Prophetic Jewels


Salaam Ishq Allaah,

Dear beloveds, the following is a gift of jewels from our Most Beloved Master, the Most Beloved of Allaah, the Holy Prophet Muhammad shalla Allaahu alaihi wa alihi wa sallam (peace be upon his sublime self and the people of his household).


(1) ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLDS AND THE MUHAMMADAN REALITY

Allaah Ta'ala has said, through the lips of our Glorious Master, the Prophet (saaw), in the following qudsi hadith:

"I have created the Soul of Muhammad from the Light of My Face (Wajh)."

(Note: By "My Face" Allaah Ta'ala means the convergence of all of His Sifaat (Names and Attributes), that is, His Ta'ala Greatest Name. Some Sufis call this the 100th Name of Allaah Ta'ala. The Prophet (saaw) once referred to this as the sacred "Fruit" of Thuba.)

To Jabir ibn Abdullaah, may Allaah be pleased with him, one of the Ahl as-Shuffah (the People of the woolen garb living in the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah al-Munawarrah), the Sweet Beloved Prophet (saaw) said,

"O Jabir, verily the very first entity that Your Rabb (Lord, Creator, Cherisher, Evolver) manifested was the Light of your Beloved Prophet."

And,

"For a thousand years of Allaah's Time, after the creation of my Light, Allaah Ta'ala created the Arsh (Heavenly Throne) from the Light of my Eye. He Ta'ala then created the rest of creation from the Arsh. Then He Ta'ala sent the souls to descend to the lowest levels of creation, to the realm of the material world, as He Ta'ala says, "Then We make him (man) descend to the lowest of the low" (Surah Tin: 5).""

And,

"Allaah Ta'ala then sent my Light from where it was first manifest, from the Ultimate Realm (Alam al-Lahut, which is the Realm of Allaah's Absolute Unity-Being), to the Realm of the Divine Names (Alam al-Sifaat), the Manifestation of the Divine Attributes, the Realm of the Causal Intelligence of my Great Soul (al-Ruh al-A'zham). There He Ta'ala dressed souls in robes of my Light. These are the inheritors of my Reality among this Ummah."

He (saaw), has also said,

"I have been given all Names."

(Note: This refers to the Reality of Muhammad (saaw), al-Haqiqah al-Muhammadiyyah, as al-Insan al-Kamil, the Perfect Man, the most perfect Manifestation of all of Allaah's Names, whose Focal Point (Qibla) combines, and is beyond, the Esoteric East and the Exoteric West as he (saaw) said, "My Qibla is neither in the East nor in the West." Muhammad is the Name of all humanity in the realm of the souls (alam al-arwah).)


(2) ON KNOWLEDGE

Our Master, the Prophet (saaw), has said,

"On the day of the Last Judgment, Allaah Ta'ala will gather men together, then separate the wise men from among them, and say to them, "O people of knowledge, I gave you My knowledge because I know you. I did not give you wisdom to punish you on this day. So Enter My Paradise, I have forgiven you."

When asked what Paradise he (saaw) was referring to, he (saaw) said,

"It is the Paradise wherein there is only the Face of Allaah Ta'ala to be seen."

And he (saaw) related a verse from the Holy Qur'an, Surah Qamar: 55, "...the place of Truth in the Presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent."

When asked what sort of knowledge he (saaw) was referring to, he (saaw) said,

"...a special knowledge like a hidden treasure that only those who know the Essence of Allaah Ta'ala can find. Yet when the Mystery is revealed, no one who is conscious and sincere can deny it."

(Note: The knowledge here is the one alluded to in the Holy Qur'an, in Surah Ta Ha: 7, "...the secret and what is yet more hidden." The Axial Sultan of Muhammadan Saints, Hazrat Shaykh Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jilani qaddas Allaahu sirrah (may Allaah sanctify his secret) has said,

"This knowledge was revealed to our Master, the Prophet (saaw), during the Mi'raj (the Night Voyage), his (saaw) Ascension to Allaah Ta'ala (where he (saaw) ultimately reached the state of fanaa' al-fanaa' and baqaa' billaah). This mystery was hidden in him (saaw) behind 30,000 veils. He (saaw) did not reveal its secret except to those among his (saaw) disciples who were closest to him (saaw). It is by the propagation and blessing of this secret that Islaam will continue to reign until the last day of the worlds.")

Our Master, the Prophet (saaw), has said,

"This world is undesirable and unlawful for those who wish for the hereafter. The hereafter is undesirable for those who wish for this world, and it will not be given to them. But for the souls who seek Allaah's Essence alone, neither this world nor the hereafter has any attraction."


(3) ON MAN

Allaah Ta'ala has spoken through our Master, the Prophet (saaw), in the following qudsi hadith,

"Man is My Secret and I am his Secret. The inner knowledge of spiritual essence ('ilm al-bathin) is a secret of My secrets. Only I put this into the heart of My good servant, and none may know his state other than Me."

And,

"I am as My servant knows Me. When he seeks Me and remembers Me, I am with him. If he seeks Me inwardly, I seek him with My Essence. If he remembers and mentions Me in good company, I remember and declare him as My good servant in better company (the company of angels)."


(4) ON REFLECTION (TAFAKKUR) AND WISDOM

Our Master, the Prophet (saaw), has said,

"A moment of reflection is worth more than a year of worship."

And,

"A moment's reflection is worth more than seventy years of worship."

And,

"A moment's reflection is worth more than a thousand years of worship."

He (saaw), has said,

"There is a state in which all and everything is gathered and that is Ma'rifatullaah (Divine Wisdom)."

And,

"With it, one learns the Truth, which gathers within itself all causes and all good. Then one must act upon this Truth. One must also know falsehood and act upon it."


(5) ON TASHAWUF (THARIQAH/SUFISM)

Our Master, the Prophet (saaw), has said,

"The Religion is a tree: Mysticism is its branches, Wisdom is its foliage, Truth is its fruit."

He (saaw) has also said,

"Shari'ah is my sayings, Thariqah is my actions, and Haqiqah is my inner states."


(6) ON INTIMACY

In the following qudsi hadith, Allaah Ta'ala has said, through our Master, the Prophet (saaw),

"My servant, if you wish to enter the sanctuary of My Intimacy, do not pay attention either to this world or to the higher world of the angels, not even to the higher realms where you may receive My Divine Attributes."

(Note: This is the perfection of not associating anything with Allaah Ta'ala. This is the essence of Islaam itself.)


(7) ON BATTLE (JIHAD)

One day, when the Prophet (saaw) and his companions had just returned from a great battle, he (saaw) said, "We have returned from a small battle to wage the Great War." They asked, "What is it, O Messenger of Allaah?" He (saaw) answered, "The battle against the lower self." He (saaw) further said, "This is your greatest enemy, and it is under your ribs."

(Note: Without this sort of Jihad, it is not possible to reach the reality of the Confession of Unity, the Shahada.)


(8) ON LOVE AND YEARNING

Allaah Ta'ala has said, through the lips of His Most Beloved Prophet (saaw),

"My Love, My Existence, is their Love for Me."

And,

"I feel the yearning of My Lovers for Me, and I too long for them."

Allaah Ta'ala has said, through our Master, the Prophet (saaw),

"I cannot be contained by My heavens nor My earths, but I fit into the heart of My Lover."

(Note: About this, Hazrat Bayazid al-Bistami qaddas Allaahu sirrah has said, "If all that exists in and around the Throne (Arsh) of Allaah Ta'ala, the vastest of all of Allaah's creations, were to be placed in a corner of the Perfect Man's heart, he would not even feel the weight of it.")


(9) ON ASCETISM (ZUHUD)

Our Master, the Prophet (saaw), has said,

"My state of utter need, my poverty, is my Pride."

And,

"By this, I have reached the highest possible station among the Prophets."

(Note: Poverty here does not mean the lack of the worldly. It is the abandonment of everything but the wish for the Essence of Allaah Ta'ala.)


(10) ON ECSTASY (WAJD) AND TASTE (ZAUQ)

Our Master, the Prophet (saaw), has said,

"A single divine inspiration which cuts one off from the world and bestows upon one the reflection of Allaah's Divine Attributes, showing one the signs of Allaah's Divine Unity, is worth the experience of both worlds (this world and the hereafter)."

And,

"The one who has not experienced ecstasy and thereby received the manifestation of Divine Wisdom and Truth in truth has not lived!"

(Note: Commenting on this hadith, Hazrat Junayd al-Baghdadi qaddas Allaahu sirrah has said, "When ecstasy meets the Divine Manifestations inside a Lover, he is either in a state of the highest joy or the deepest sorrow.")

Allaah Ta'ala has said, in the Holy Qur'an, in Surah Zumar: 17,

"So give the good news to My servants who listen to the Word, then follow the Beauty in it. Such are they whom Allaah Ta'ala has guided (towards Himself). And such are the men of understanding."

Our Master, the Prophet (saaw), has said,

"The ecstatic ritual of the Lovers of Allaah Ta'ala, their whirling and chanting, is an obligatory form of worship for some, and for others a supererogatory act of worship; and yet for others (who have low taste due to their being veiled by their lower nafs) still it is heresy (bid'ah). It is obligatory for the Perfect Man. It is supererogatory for the Lovers and for the heedless it is heresy."

(Note: Hazrat Abu Bakr as-Shiddiq radhi Allaahu anhu, Mawlana Rumi's great grandfather, was the first to whirl in ecstasy, upon receiving a secret from the Prophet (saaw) in the Cave, as the hadith says, "Whatever is in my heart, I pour into the heart of as-Shiddiq.")

And,

"He is ill-natured who takes no pleasure being with Lovers of Allaah Ta'ala: the poems of the Wise which they chant, the season of spring, the color and perfume of its flowers and the lute and its song."

And,

"The one who has not experienced ecstasy does not have the taste of his religion."


***

Yaa Nabi salaam alaika, yaa Habib salaam alaika, yaa Syahid alaa Wujudillaah, salaam alaika. Anta Syamsun, anta Badrun, anta Nurun fawqa Nuri, anta Nur al-Wajhullaah, anta Nur al-Mawjud, anta Taj al-Muqarrabun yaa Rasul Allaah. Yaa Habib salaam alaika. Shalawaatullaah alaika.

Allaahu, Allaahu, Allaahu Haqq.

Ishq,

Dani

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