QASIDA BURDA REV031118V2 - Bashir Sacranie

QASIDA BURDA By

Imam Al Busiri

THE CLOAK OF MERCY English commentary and poetic rendering

By Bashir Sacranie ©

QASIDA BURDA By

Imam Al Busiri

THE CLOAK OF MERCY English commentary and poetic rendering

By Bashir Sacranie © 2017

QASIDA BURDA THE CLOAK OF MERCY

2

Published by Millennium Publishing

373 Metcalfe Drive, Kabula Hill P O Box 1895 Blantyre Malawi

First published 2017

Text copyright © Bashir Mahomed Sacranie, 2017 Copyright Millennium Publishing

Bashir Mahomed Sacranie asserts the moral right to be

identified as the author of this work ISBN 978-1-64008-042-3

Printed and bound in Cape Town South Africa

Other books by the author

The Ishq of Jalallud’din Rumi - 2007 Peregrinations - 1996


3

Say to them: “If you love Allah, follow me and Allah

will love you. “ Quran 3:31

“And we have not sent you but as mercy to the worlds”

Quran 21:107

“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on earth and the

One in the Heavens will have mercy upon you.” The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)– Sunan al-Tirmidhi

“Whoever is not merciful to people will not receive mercy from Allah”

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) –al-Mu’jam al Kabir 3847


i

Dedications This book is humbly dedicated to:

Prophet Muhammad

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him always and

All his family, companions, relatives, friends, associates and lovers over the millennia up to the present day and beyond

* The Poet - Sharaf al-Din Muhammad ibn Sa’id al-Busiri al

Sanhaji: Al Busiri (RA) *

My master, guide and source of inspiration: Bawa, Al Hajj Sayyid Ali Asgar Shah Shirazi (RA)

And his forbears, family and progeny May Allah have mercy upon them and grant them Jannah

* Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Al Haqqani (RA)

whose grace and acquaintance I enjoyed belatedly and all too briefly when he favoured me with his blessings, affection

and undeserving attention, And

Ala Hazrat - Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (RA) Whose posthumous trust and favour I, [on account of my Grandfather (whose Mursheed he was)], undeservingly

enjoy, and that I hope to discharge honourably. *

All the Fuqara and Sufi orders including the Qadri, Naqshbandi, Mevlevi, Chisti, Shadili, Suhrawardi Orders

and all other orders that are motivated by the love for the Messenger of Allah and who live their lives and base their

practices on his example and for love of Allah.


ii

SPECIAL DEDICATIONS

The oppressed, besieged, dispossessed, persecuted,

tormented, tortured, exiled, penned and incarcerated, powerless and abandoned of the world, wherever and

whoever they might be *

All those who are vulnerable and suffer from the effects of denial, negligence, careless excesses, thoughtless profligacy,

indifference, deliberate inaction and plain ignorance contributing to disasters and calamities due to

climate change

All who selflessly strive for justice and to rescue aid and support the victims of human injustices and excesses


iii

ACKNOWLEDEMENTS While this book was still in draft, I was looking for images

of the Prophet’s Mosque and the gateway to his Rowdah Mubarak (grave). There were a number of them on the web, but none entirely satisfactory. I thought I would have to make do with what I could find.

I decided to visit London for some matters I had to attend to. On the day I arrived in London, my niece, Mouna, informed me that Peter Sanders, a photographer on the Path, was, that evening, giving an introductory talk on his forthcoming book, ‘Meetings with Mountains’. I was fortunate enough to meet Peter (Sidi Abdul Adheem) and the perfect source of the images I was seeking.

That meeting led to a personality I had only wished and dreamt of meeting when I read his book, ‘Signs on the Horizon’, Michael Sugich (Sidi Haroon). Both these gentlemen (no other word seems more apt and appropriate) quietly and gently helped and guided me. They were like a ‘nod and a nudge’ from the ‘Right Quarters’.

The Gardeners (Sue and John) had helped with my book ‘The Ishq of Rumi’ several years ago. Secretly. I hoped that I might interest them in looking at the draft of this book and, game as ever, they took my bait willingly. They did far more than look at the draft. I pray that they gained, even if it was just a fraction of what I did from them.

My Family: Last but not least, what we are and what we do is, more often than not, because of relationships we have. Without support and encouragement we would not achieve much. I owe much to my parents and their parents before them, my siblings, wives and children whose unstinting guidance, support, love and indulgence over the years have transported me here.


i

FOREWORD

Bismilla-hirrahman-ir-raheem: In the Name of Allah the Infinitely Compassionate, the Immeasurably Merciful

I claim no worth or competence, or any special aptitude in this rendering of the Qasida Burda Shareef of Imam Al Busiri[RA] into English poetry from the Arabic original. It’s a labour humbly and hesitatingly accomplished.

It was often halted by a sally of doubt about whether it was too ambitious an undertaking, or concerns about my own presumptuousness in undertaking a task of such a deeply religious nature without anything to commend me for it, or when I was temporarily stuck, daunted by my literary limitations. What kept me going was a sense that, if I did manage to finish it, it might at least convey something of the spirit of the original in English to those who love the Prophet (PBUH),,or might discover him and grow to love him.

Rumi, (some of whose poetry I put into lyrical English verse some years ago), says, “I am the dust under the feet of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)…”. People who most inspired me and I looked up to over the years, including my beloved guide, were similarly enamoured of the Prophet (PBUH). I learned in time that some of the greatest thinkers, saints and writers, who proliferated over the centuries after he died, also had a deep love for Muhammad (PBUH).

For a long time, before I made my own discoveries, I thought, “Why? What was it about the Prophet (PBUH) that affected them so deeply? ”

Madrassa, which I attended till the age of 11, didn’t tell me anything of the Prophet (PBUH); only the rituals and how to read the Quran in Arabic. I marvel even to this day that we learnt nothing of the man who is offered by God


ii

Himself in the Quran as the perfect role model, and who, himself, summed up his purpose as: to teach and exemplify perfect conduct and character!

I left madrassa to go to high school with vague impressions of the Prophet (PBUH) that were coloured and conditioned by the rather austere and uninspiring tutors I encountered there.

After the age of 11, I got to know about Jesus from compulsory bible reading at high school, I saw him as a real person and a great, heroic, tragic figure; an epitome of awe-inspiring holiness and authority and compelling wisdom, but I still could not engage with him at a human level.

I became even more distanced from Prophet Muhammad[PBUH) through my teens and beyond. There was little to interest me in Islam, but I had curiosity and a yearning, engendered, perhaps, by the underlying dissatisfaction regarding matters spiritual. I needed to know the ‘truth’ for myself. I believe it’s the same desire and want that afflicts many youths, and leads them in different directions, and is often never fulfilled. In my case it led me to explore and discover other beliefs that were in the vogue in the heady Sixties in London, where I found myself in my late teens.

Throughout my twenties I continued to thirst for some undefined fulfillment and read copiously in search for something that resonated with my inner sensibilities. Most of it was instructive and informative, intellectually satisfying and incremental, but not entirely practicable. When I began to despair of finding what I was looking for and turned more and more inwards to try to articulate the unspoken and non-verbal, suddenly and unexpectedly I met someone who transformed my life and perspective.

Meeting my Guide, Bawa, anchored me and gave


iii

me bearings of the direction in which I should proceed with my search. it was this and subsequent fortuitous meetings with extraordinary individuals that set me on the path to learning more about the Prophet (PBUH). And so began my journey to learn about the Prophet (PBUH), and with the gradually growing familiarity with his personality, character and conduct, came the desire to explore and learn more.

Four decades later, I realise that, once embarked upon, this is indeed an endless quest; a quest that every Muslim, if not everyone who is searching, should embark upon and integrate into the daily routine of life.

The more I have read and learnt about the Prophet (PBUH), the more I have realised how much we would gain as individuals as well as a society, if only our learning about him began from early childhood so that he would become for us a guiding light in all our affairs.

It was in the course of this ongoing search that, a few years ago, I came upon the Qasida Burda. I wanted to understand it and so I looked for translations and came across some very competent ones, but not anything in rhyming, lyrical poetry that I felt would better capture the spirit of the original. I put my mind to render it into poetry in my preferred form, primarily for my own edification.

Whilst engaged in this, I learned that there were, in fact, some English renditions by very distinguished scholars or masters, for whom I have the greatest respect. This gave me pause! Who am I, I thought, to undertake such a task without any real qualification to do so? But by now I was so far forward that I resolved not to seek these other works out, or read them, in case I was discouraged or ended up unwittingly plagiarizing their work. I decided I would look at them only when I had finished.

As I approached the end of my travail, I realised


iv

that it was a good way to gain insights about the Prophet (PBUH) and also earn other benefits, and so I decided to persevere and finish it

I have attempted to present it in a form that I hope is appealing and might be of interest to a wider audience. It is not a translation in the strict sense of the word, but, Insha Allah, conveys the spirit of each couplet and the Arabic text as a whole.

I offer this work with the prayer that it helps in efforts by all those who recognize the need to bring about a better understanding and appreciation of Prophet Muhammad (may everlasting peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). That, I believe, will also foster a better understanding of Islam, as much amongst Muslims as non-Muslims, and. God willing, between religions generally.

I pray, too, that it helps to enhance awareness of the powers of the Burda and of the act of sending salutations to the Prophet (PBUH)

May this humble effort please Allah and His Messenger

Bashir Sacranie - October 2017


v

The Author of Qasida Burda - Imam Al-Busiri

The famous Qasida Burdah (The Poem of the Cloak

or Mantle) was composed by a late Thirteenth Century Egyptian Arabic poet/mystic (died AD c. 1295) by the name of Al Busiri, whose full name was Sharaf al-Din Muhammad ibn Sa’id al-Busiri al Sanhaji. It is a eulogy on Prophet Muhammad PBUH as well as a prayer and supplication.

Al Busiri’s family was Moroccan. At some time during his youth, he made his way to Cairo, where he pursued his studies in Islamic sciences, the Arabic language and linguistics, literature, history, and the biography of Prophet MuhammadPBUH. He would also have become Hafiz al-Quran (committed the Quran to memory).

According to contemporary accounts, in Cairo he worked as a scribe and manuscript copyist for some local officials, and, in this pursuit, he would have used his skills in calligraphy and his knowledge of Islamic law and jurisprudence, as well as other religious sciences.

He also studied the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and religious history of Judaism and Christianity. Some of his colleagues at work were Jewish and Christian and he was known to engage in lively discussions with them about differing perceptions and interpretations in aspects of their scriptures and the Quran and Hadith.

Al-Būṣīrī was inclined to be reclusive and an ascetic. Worldly needs and demands thwarted his desires to dedicate himself entirely to spiritual pursuits, but this may have been the making of him and his genteel nature, which is reflected in the poem.

He was a contemporary of Ibn al-Fāriḍ who is considered by many as one of the greatest Sufi poets in


vi

Arabic and he kept company with other great scholars and jurists.

He belonged to the Shadhili Sufi order although he may not have been an active participant and practitioner, it is apparent that he kept company with other Sufis, some of whom are recognised masters and are held in high esteem in Sufi and Islamic circles.

As Sufi masters tend to, he modelled his manners and conduct according to the personality of the Prophet (PBUH). He is said to have presented a very attractive persona and was treated with great reverence and deference by people in general.

In some contemporary accounts, he is presented as a saintly figure, who wore fine clothes and a gentle smile, and had a head of snow-white hair. A sweet scent would come from his person. When he walked down the street, young and old would gather to greet him and kiss his hand.

His love for the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) permeates the Burda and clearly was a passion he nurtured and that gave him inspiration and solace. It was composed after he had returned from pilgrimage to Mecca and had visited the Prophet’s (PBUH) tomb in Madinah.

May Allah and his Messenger be pleased with Imam Busiri and always reward him for his poetry and praise, and may it always continue to inspire and move those who read and recite it.


vii

The writing of the Qasida Burda and its benefits

Al-Busiri narrated the miraculous circumstances of his inspiration to write the Burdah:

I had composed a number of praise poems for the Prophet (PBUH), including one that was suggested to me by my friend Zayn al-Dīn Yʿaqūb b. al-Zubayr. Some time after that, I was stricken by fālij (stroke), an illness that paralyzed half of my body. I decided that I would compose this poem, and make therein supplications to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to intercede for me and secure my cure. I repeatedly sang the poem, wept, prayed, and asked for intercession. Then I slept and in my dream, I saw the Prophet (PBUH). He wiped my face with his blessed hands and covered me in his cloak (burdah). Then I woke up and found I was able to walk; so I got up and left my house. I had told no one about what had happened.

I encountered a dervish on my way and he said to me: “I want you to give me the poem in which you praise the Prophet (PBUH).”

I said: “Which one?”

So he said: ”The one that you composed during your sickness.”

Then he recited the first verse and said: “I swear by God that I heard it in a dream last night being sung in the presence of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). I saw the Prophet (PBUH) was pleased with it and he covered the person who sang it with his cloak.”

So I recited the poem to him (the dervish) and he memorized it and related his vision to others.


viii

The Burda is in 10 chapters and 160 verses. Each verse ends with the Arabic letter mīm, a style called mīmīya. Interspersing the verses is the refrain:

“O LORD, LET SALUTATIONS ‘PON YOUR SERVANT RAIN

YOUR BELOVED, HE, THE BEST IN CREATION’S DOMAIN”

Many commentaries have been written on this poem and it has been translated into many languages. Muslims in a large part have venerated these verses that in gilt calligraphy for centuries decorated the Prophet’s mausoleum in Al-Masjid an-Nabawii - the Prophet’s (PBUH) Mosque - in Madinah, until it was erased (but for two lines) when the Wahhabi Saudi dynasty took control of Makkah and Madinah in the first quarter of the 20th Century.

In many parts, especially in Sufi circles, the Burda is memorized and recited in congregations, and its verses decorate the walls of public buildings and mosques.

The poem is believed to have miraculous qualities and a list of prescriptions and instruction is circulated about the times and frequency with which it should be recited for certain benefits or salutary results. If recited with love and devotion, it is said to cure diseases and purify hearts.

In short, it invokes the Mercy of Allah.


i

The Green Dome of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah Photo – Peter Sanders


ii

Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: Allah will say to his servant when He will be taking account of him on the Day of Judgment, ‘O’ son of Adam, I was hungry and you did not feed me.’ He will answer: ‘How could I feed you? You are the Lord of the worlds!’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that my servant, so and so, who is the son of so and so, felt hunger, and you did not feed him. Alas, had you fed him you would have found that (i.e. reward) with Me.’ ‘O’ son of Adam, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink.’ He will reply: ‘How could I give You drink? You are the Lord of the worlds!’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that my servant, so and so, the son of so and so, was thirsty and you did not give him drink. Alas, if you had given him, you would have found that (i.e. reward) with me.’ ‘O’ son of Adam, I became sick and you did not visit Me.’ He will answer: ‘How could I visit You? You are the Lord of the worlds!’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that my servant, so and so, the son of so and so, became sick and you did not visit him. Alas, had you visited him, you would have found Me with him (Bokhari).


iii

The golden grill of the Prophet’s Tomb Photo by Peter Sanders


i

And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the call of the supplicant

when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me that they may be

[rightly] guided.

Qur’an 2:186


ii

Noori Mosque Amsterdam. Rabbi un Noor 1431H. 2 Qasida Burda Sharief


1

PROLOGUE

Allah asserts in The Qur’an that He and His Angels rehearse salutations on the Prophet (PBUH), and He exhorts believers to do likewise. According to various traditions, this will then invoke upon the believer salutary responses from Allah and the Prophet (PBUH) in generous measure.

It is not as if Allah and the Prophet (PBUH) are in need of salutations or acknowledgement, but such rehearsal and reminders attune the devotee or practitioner, and condition him or her to be receptive to the transformational energy and the Message of Islam; in essence the primordial link with the Divine, and, in one word, ‘Mercy’.

Allah recommends too the behaviour, conduct and character of the Prophet (PBUH) as beautiful, and one that believers should emulate. It thus behooves the believers, if they truly take the Islamic message to heart, to comply. But in order to do so, one has to learn about and get to know the Prophet (PBUH), and to get to know him is to love him. And, so, love of the Prophet (PBUH) is an integral part of Islam.

The recital of salawat and qasaaid such as the Burda help one to gain an affinity and a personal connection with the Prophet (PBUH) and a means of getting to know him in a more direct sense.

One realises that the Prophet’s (PBUH) overriding quality was mercifulness and compassion: Rahmah, in Arabic. In the Quran, Allah proclaims that He has sent the Messenger as Rhamatul lil Alamien – “A mercy unto the worlds (or ‘creation’).


2

In the Prophet (PBUH), ‘Nature’ combined the single-mindedness, unswerving, fiery, unyielding dedication to the sublime principle and purpose of his mission, with the ‘motherly’ mercy and compassion that came from his complete identification with humanity and the world as a part of himself and the handiwork of God. Of him it can truly be said (to paraphrase Shakespeare) that: the elements in him were so mixed and perfectly proportioned that Nature itself might rise up and say, “This is a Man!”

So, put differently, Love was at the very foundation of his being and his essential quality was his humanity. it could only be such, because he was meant to be a model of perfection for mankind to strive to attain, and to do so did not mean becoming estranged or alienated from life and the world, but, on the contrary, to become integrated and aligned, connected and in harmony with it.

Emulation of him is, therefore, at the core of the Islamic credo and imperative. But it needs to go far deeper than the externals and is meant to be entirely transformative, for the Prophet’s (PBUH) quintessential state was consciousness of God, which, in the Islamic context, is the state that a realized being attains if he or she follows the guidance and performs the acts and exercises that the Quran and the Prophet (PBUH) prescribe and exemplify.

The default sate of the human being is that of negligence (ghaflat), or absentmindedness, or simply unconsciousness, being rooted either in the past or the future, or elsewhere, rather than in the present and the here-and-now. Islam is, therefore, meant to be a code of conduct encompassing the mundane and the


3

transcendental, the earthy and the ethereal, enabling Man to realise the reality of his own nature and its connection with the Eternal, by integrating the prescribed, simple devotional actions and exercises and a moral code of conduct with the daily rhythm of living.

Such a person in turn becomes an exemplar, an ideal and a source of comfort and guidance to others. Therefore, Islam should need no proselytizing because every Muslim is meant to be a model who should provoke admiration, interest, curiosity, etc., leading to inquiry into what makes the person what he or she is, and that, in itself, would lead the inquirer on to what the Quran calls “The Right Path”.

The Qasida Burda and like classical literary works of repute – such as Rumi’s vast works (to name but one of many) - are meant to penetrate beyond the externals and permeate into the inner sanctums of our mind to stir our consciousness and raise our awareness, to arouse us to fulfill our true destiny and justify the Prophet’s (PBUH) hopes, efforts and aspirations for his Ummah (Flock).

The Prophet (PBUH) is a Mercy from Allah and it is also by Allah’s Mercy that we are able to recognise, acknowledge and be thankful for the gift of life and of mercy itself, which makes us humans what we are and gives us superiority over other creatures.

Thankfulness is a warming, comforting and sustaining state and invoking salutations upon the Prophet (PBUH) is an active part of it. It is said that Allah finds gratitude irresistible, and He, Himself advocates that one should express it to be granted ever-greater favours.

The Prophet (PBUH) countered appeals to him by his loved ones - echoing Allah’s own admonitions to him


4

in the Qur’an - to go easier on himself in his long night vigils when he stood in prayer, by saying what could not be gainsaid, “Shall I not be a grateful servant?”

The calling for Allah’s Mercy is like calling for life-sustaining and enlivening rainfall in periods of drought. In times of conflict, or other trials and tribulations , we have to remind ourselves that what happens is by Allah’s Will and Writ and that what is in our capacity is to invoke his Mercy.

The Qasida Burda, if recited with perfect intention and conviction, will invoke Allah’s Mercy and bring comfort, relief and succour to the distressed and beleaguered.


5

Contents

The 10 chapters of the Burda comprise

1. Love and yearning for the Prophet (PBUH) 2. Self-blame and admonitions 3. Praise for the Prophet (PBUH) 4. The Advent of the Prophet (PBUH) 5. His Miracles 6. The Miracle of the Qur’ān 7. The Ascension of the Prophet (PBUH) 8. The Chivalrous Struggle of the Prophet (PBUH) 9. The Plea for the Prophet’s( PBUH) Intercession 10. The petition and plea by the poet


6

Section 1 - Love and yearning for the Prophet (PBUH)

In love is blame, jealousy, envy … and so the need for secrecy, But the lover bursts to declare his love to the world and, thereby courts notoriety and disapproval. For the world disapproves and is jealous of love of aught but itself, And so, the world’s opprobrium is affirmation to the lover of the Beloved’s approval.

Love for the Prophet (PBUH) was the magnet that drew followers to him and joined them to each other. His personality was an extraordinary combination of majesty and humility, beauty and simplicity, power and gentleness. As much as his message – the Quranic revelation – was awe-inspiring and compelling, his warmth and openness were disarming and magnetic.

This powerful combination made the Prophet (PBUH) well-neigh irresistible. As God Himself remarks in the Quran, but for the Prophet’s (PBUH) tenderness and gentility, his acceptance by the community, and, therefore, his mission would have been much more difficult, if not impossible

Having sensed a modicum of that charisma and magnetism, and the feeling of warmth, serenity and wellbeing in the presence of my Guide (a lover of the Prophet (PBUH)), I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to leave the Prophet’s (PBUH) side and not to behold him at every moment and bathe in the sunshine of his presence. Words are unnecessary, even superfluous, in that state of communion: the communion of hearts.

The companions invariably used to commence their responses to the Prophet (PBUH) by saying, “May my parents be sacrificed for you” – an expression of sublime love - and this can only have been because they sensed


7

his profound love for each of them, and each had a particular and profoundly personal relationship with him. It was a love that combined respect and fear, and the latter was fear of causing him any disappointment, displeasure and discomfort, or provoking his disapproval, rather than that of anger and retribution. The latter were passions he was averse to and had in absolute control.

As invariably happens with ordinary human beings when they encounter great souls, each of his companions vied with the others to gain recognition and approval from their beloved Rasul’Allah, and, no doubt, there were rivalries and jealousies between them, but those too were subsumed by love for him.

The allusion to secrecy in this section refers in part to this and in part to the objections that certain sects (since evolved) have against according such regard and reverence towards the Prophet (PBUH), deeming it as adoration that should be reserved uniquely and exclusively for Allah. These sects tend to be extreme and aggressive and charges of heresy are often leveled against lovers of the Prophet (PBUH); hence the Poet’s tentative introduction.

Lovers of the Prophet (PBUH) however say that he was human and a model of perfection as a human being, but not a man like any other man, just as a diamond is rock, but not a rock like every other rock.

***


8

MAWLAYA SwALLI WA SALLIM DAA’IMAN ABADAN ‘ALA HABIBIKA KHAYRIL KHALQI KULLIHIMI

O LORD, LET SALUTATIONS ‘PON YOUR SERVANT RAIN YOUR BELOVED, HE, THE BEST IN CREATION’S DOMAIN

MUHAMMADUN SAYYIDUN KAWNAYNI WATHAQALAIN

WALFARIQAYNI MIN URBINw WAMIN ‘AJAMI

MUHAMMAD, SAYYID (MASTER) OF THE CREATIONS TWAIN’

THE BEST AMONGST THE ARABS ALL, AND THE BEST OF THE REMAIN



9

AMIN THADHAKKARI JIRANINM BIDHIY SALAMI MADHAJTA DAM’AN JARAA MIMMUQLATIN BIDAMI

IS IT BECAUSE DHISALAM’S ENVIRONS YOU RECALL

THAT BLOOD-STAINED TEARS DOWN YOUR CHEEKS NOW FALL?

AM HABBATIR RIYYHU MIN TILQA’I KAAZwIMATIN

WA AWMADALBARQU FIYZ ZwALMA’I MIN IDwAMI

OR THAT KAZIMA’S BREEZE COMES STEALING NEIGH AND LIGHTENING RIPS THROUGH IDHAM’S NIGHT SKY?





10

FAMA LI ‘AYNAIKA ‘INQULTA AKFUFAA HAMATAA WAMAA LIQALBIKA INQULTAS TAFIQ YAHIMI

WHAT’S WITH YOUR EYES THAT FAIN DO FLOOD THEIR

LENSES WHAT’S WITH YOUR HEART THAT’S GONE AND LOST ITS

SENSES?

AYAHSABUS SABBU ‘ANNAL HUBBA MUNKATIMUN MA BAYNA MUNSAJIMIM MINHU WA MUDwTARIMI

IN VAIN IT IS YOUR LOVE YOU EARNESTLY TRY TO CONCEAL

THAT TEAR-FILLED EYES AND BURNING HEART SO PLAINLY REVEAL


11

LAWLAL HAWA LAM TURIQ DAM’AN ‘ALA TwALALIN WALA ARIQTA LIDHIKRILBANI WAL ‘ALAMI

BUT FOR LOVE, YOU WOULD NOT GRIEVE AT THIS RUINED

SITE NOR PAINFULLY YEARN FOR THE CYPRESS OF THE

MOUNTAIN HEIGHT

FAKAIFA TUNKIRU HUBBAN BA’ADA MAA SHAHIDAT BIHI ALAIKA ADUWLUD DAM’I WASSAQAMI

HOW DO YOU PERSIST THESE PROOFS OF LOVE TO DENY WHEN YOUR OWN LOOKS GIVE AWAY THE TRUTH TO AN

OBSERVANT EYE?


12

WA ‘ATHABATAL WAJDU KHATTwA ABRATINW’ WADwANAN

MITHLAL BAHAARI ‘ALAA KHADDAIKA WAL ‘ANAMI

THESE LINES THAT LOVE HAS ETCHED ON YOUR FACE PLAIN SHOW

AND YOUR CHEEKS THAT THE YELLOW ROSE, THE RUBY LACE GROW

NA’AM SARAA TwAYFU MAN AHWAA FA ‘AR RAQANI

WAL HUBBU YA’TARIDwUL LADHDHAATI BIL’ALAMI

‘TIS TRUE! ‘TWAS LONGING STOLE MY SLEEP LAST NIGHT AND LOVE’S DEEP YEARNINGS PAIN, NOT SOLACE, INVITE


13

YA LA’IMI F’ILHAWAL ‘UDHRIYYI M’ADHIRATAN MINNIY ILAIKA WALAW ANSAFTA LAM TALUMI

OH BEGRUDGE ME NOT THIS MOURNFUL LAMENT, I PRAY

WERE YOU IN SUCH MY STATE, YOU TOO WOULD THUS HOLD SWAY

ADATKA HAALIYA LAA SIRRIY BIMUSTATIRIN ANILWUSHAATI WALA DAA’IY BIMUN HASIMI

MY PLIGHT IS SUCH, I FEAR, MY SECRET IS NOW KNOWN BY THOSE WHO HOLD ME IN DISDAIN; IN ANQUISH I AM

THROWN


14

MAH HADwTANIN NUS.HA LAAKIN LASTU ASMA.UHU INNAL MUHIBBA ANILUDHDHALI FIY SwAMAMI

YOUR ADVICE DID REACH MY EAR, BUT HEED IT I DID NOT,

ALAS! THE LOVER ALWAYS DEEMS WISE COUNSEL SUPERFICIAL,

CRASS!

INNIT TAHAMTU NASEEHASH SHAIBI FIY ‘ADHALI WASH SHAIBU ‘AB’ADU FIY NUS.HIN ‘ANIT TUHAMI

YES, I HEEDED NOT THE WISDOM IN THE COUNSEL OF THE

WISE A FOOL IS DEAF TO THE GOOD THAT ELDERS’ WORDS

COMPRISE


15

Section 2 - Self-blame and admonitions – beware of the wiles of the carnal self

How dares a beggar to be seen Before the King,

Ragged, unkempt, unclean? Though the King is tolerant

And does ever to forgiveness lean, Yet the beggar feels blameworthy,

Mean...

Lustful desire o’er the soul does cast a pall That blinds and distances;

Of separation, a wall, Of one from the One

Whom the heavens can’t hold, Yet the space of the lover’s heart will enfold.

What do I do I this fog to dispel,

That am blInd as if caught in a spell, By a thousand distractions that upwell And countless indulgences that impel!

How am I to plead my love and hope his to gain, But with words broke and lame

Admitting fault and accepting blame And abjectly confessing my shame,


16

FA’INNA AM.MAARATIY BISSUW’I MAT.TA’AZwAT MIN JAHLIHA BINADHIYRISH-SHAYBI WAL HARAMI

LO! A LUSTFUL SOUL DOES PRUDENCE AND SOUND

REASON DECRY AND IGNORANCE TURNS WISE COUNSEL OFT ATHWART

AND AWRY

WALA ADDAT MINAL FI’LIL JAMEELI QIRAA DwAYFIN ALAMMA BIRA’SIY GHAIRA MUHTASHIMI

NOR AM I WEIGHTED DOWN WITH DEEDS SO GOOD AND

FAIR AS TO MERIT THE SILENT CLAIMS OF THIS GREYING IN MY

HAIR


17

LAW KUNTU A’LAMU ANNI MA UWAQQIRUHU KATAMTU SIRRAN BADAALI MINHU BIKATAMI

HAD I BUT KNOWN HOW LOW I’M FALLEN, AND INEPT

TILL DEATH ME CLAIM THIS SECRET I SHOULD RATHER HAVE KEPT

MANLIY BIRADDI JIMAAHIN MIN GHAWAYATIHA KAMA YURADDU JIMAHUL KHAILI BIL

LUJUMI

THIS UNRULY SELF HOW CAN I STOP AND FROM ERROR RESTRAIN

THAT, LIKE A WILD HORSE, REARS AND STRAINS AGAINST THE REIN?


18

FALA TARUM BILMA’ASIY KASRA SHAHWATIHA INNATwA’AAMA YUQAWWIY SHAHWATAN NAHIMI

BEWARE! NOWISE WILL LUSTS BY INDULGENCE BE LULLED

OR ABATED FOR APPETITE GROWS IN BOUNDS THE MORE IT’S FED AND

SATED

WANNAFSU KAATTwIFLI INTUHMILHU SHABBA ‘ALAA

HUBBIR RADdAA’I WA’IN TAFTwIMHU YANFATwIMI

THE SELF IS LIKE THE SUCKLING BABE IN THE MOTHER’S

ARMS THAT SUCKLES ON TILL IT’S WEANED AWAY FROM ITS

CHARMS


19

FASRIF HAWAA HAA WA HAADHIR ‘AN TUWALLIYAHU

INNALHAWAA MA TAWALLAA YUSwMI ‘AWYASwIMI

SO RESIST ITS DEMANDING URGES AND THEREBY DULL ITS

CLAIM LO! LUST’S TRENCHANT BIDDINGS FATALLY WOUND AND

MAIM

WARAA’IHAA WAHYA FIL ‘A’MAALI SAA‘IMATUN WA’INHIAS TAHLATILMAR’AA FALAA TUSIMI

BEWARE! ALLOW IT NOT TO ROAM, OR LET IT HAVE FREE

REIN BUT BY KEEPING IT IN HOLD DO ITS WAYWARDNESS

RESTRAIN.


20

KAM HAS.SANAT LADHDHATAN LIL MUR’I QATILATAN

MINHAITHU LAMYADRI ANNASSUMMA FIDDASAMI

OFT DOES WHAT SEEMS DELIGHTFUL ROUND ON ONE TO HURT

LIKE THE POISON THAT IN SUCCULENT FAT HIDDEN LIES INERT

WAKHSHAD.DA SAA’ISA MINJUW’INW WAMIN SHIBA.IN

FARUBBA MAKHMASwATIN SHARRUN MINAT TUKHAMI

NOT HUNGER, NOR SURFEIT IN EXTREME ARE MEAT AT

EITHER END FOR HUNGER TOO TO EXCESS CAN ITS VICTIM CAUSE TO

TEND


21

WASTAFRIGHID.DAM’A MINAYNIN QADIM TALA’AT

MINAL MAHAARIMI WALDHAM HIMYATAN NADAMI

OFTEN DO UNBRIDLED EYES LEAD TO WOE AND BITTER

TEARS SO TURN AWAY FROM WHAT IS FOUL BUT FACIALLY FAIR

APPEARS

WAKHAALIFIN NAFSA WASHSHAIYTwAANA WA’A.SwIHIMAA

WAINHUMAA MA.HADDAAKAN NUSwHA FAT.TAHIMI

AND AGAINST THE SELF AND SATAN KEEP YOU FIRM YOUR HOLD

AND TREAT THEM BOTH WITH CAUTION GREAT AND FIRMLY BOLD


22

WALAA TUTI’ MINHUMAA KHASwMAN WALAA HAKAMAN

FA’ANTA TA’RIFU KAIDAL KHASMI WALHAKAMI

OF EITHER HEED NOT THREAT, NOR ACCEPT EVEN ADVICE FOR THEY ARE BOTH AS FOES TO YOU IN WHATEVER GUISE

ASTAGFIRULLAAHA MIN QAWLIN BILAA ‘AMALIN LAQAD NASABTU BIHI NASLAN LIDHI ‘UQUMI

FORGIVE ME, ALLAH! FOR FLORID WORDS BUT ACTION

NONE AT ALL FOR CLAIMS OF VIRTUE GRAND, BUT IN MERIT WOEFULLY

SMALL


23

AMARTUKAL KHAYRA LAAKIN MAA’TAMARTU BIHI WAMAS TAQAMTU FAMAA QAWLI LAKAS TAQIMI

FOR ENJOINING GOOD TO WHICH, MYSELF, I CANNOT

LAY CLAIM FOR COMMENDING PIETY WHEREOF I AM BUT WEAK AND

LAME

WALAA TADHAWWADTU QABLAL MAWTI NAAFILATAN

WALAM ‘USALLI SIWAA FARADwINW WALAM ‘ASUMI

WHEN OF VOLUNTARY DEVOTIONS, SADLY EMPTY LIES MY

STORE AND OF PRAYER OR FAST, BESIDE THE LEAST, I HAVE

NOTHING MORE!


24

Section 3 – Muhammad, the Man Par Excellence

Muhammad(PHUH), who was sent as Mercy to the worlds by the Merciful One, Who was promised long before as the Comforter and the Spirit of Truth, Who lived a life of modesty and simplicity, unblemished and untainted by untruth and pretense, Whom the world knew as the “Truthful One”, And who was unlettered, untutored, unconditioned, Like virgin ground in which the precious seed Of Wisdom and Verity could be planted o take hold and proliferate, And be accepted unquestionably as the Word of God, Voiced by one of proven honesty and integrity. Muhammad(PHUH), to whom angels came to minister and to pay homage, But who always found a moment for children at play, Or for a slave catching his breath on the wayside, To lower himself and sit by their side And look them full in the face, And bathe them with his smile that washed away all trace Of cares; Or who paused, as if with all the time in the world, Alike for the merchant as the mendicant, Or a troubled companion, Or simple folk going about their chores, With a word of kindness and gentle consolation. Muhammad(PHUH), to whom kings sent emissaries To pledge loyalty and submit,


25

But who chose in humility and dignity, to sit Away from pomp and splendour And the pageantry of power; Muhammad (PHUH) who was offered the richest treasures of the world But chose poverty as his crown and as his standard of nobility and pride; Whose largesse was unrestrained and abated only when there was nothing left to give; Even then, there was a smile; Whose modesty and sincerity were winning and disarming; Whose kindness and wisdom shone like a beacon; Whose compassion was all-embracing … How pleased was his Lord with him, and he with his Lord! Yet he stood in grateful submission, nightly, before His Rabb, With his feet in agonizing pain, Because, in the solitude of the small hours, Gratitude brought him near to his Lord, And the intimacy overwhelmed Any discomfort he had, And turned it into love’s labour And pleasurable servitude … What can words say of him who gave expression to the most perfect of Words and who had to have been perfect to bear the intolerable burden of the infinite import of the Word from the Lord of the Worlds?


26

ZwALAMTU SUNNATA MAN AHYAAZ ZwALAAMA

‘ILAA ANISHTAKAT QADAMAAHUDd DdUR.RA MIN

WARAMI

OF THE ONE WHO STOOD IN PAIN ALL NIGHT, FOOTSORE, TO PLEAD,

AND IN GRATEFUL OBEISANCE FACED HIS LORD, I FOLLOWED NOT THE LEAD

WASHADDA MIN SAGABIN ‘AHSHAA ’AHU WATwAWAA

TAHTAL HIJARATI KASH.HAN MUTRAFAL ‘ADAMI

WHO A STONE DID TIE TO HIS BELLY TO FULLNESS FEIGN AND COOL HUNGER’S PANGS, DULL ITS NAGGING PAIN


27

WARAA WADAT.HUL JIBALUSH.SHUMMU MIN DHAHABIN

A’N NAFSIHI FA’ARAAHA AYYAMA SHAMAMI

MOUNTAINS OF GOLD TO WHOM ADVANCED TO TEMPT AND ENTICE

BUT TEMPTED HIM NOT IN THE LEAST, NOR EVEN FOR A TRICE

WA AK.KADAT DHUHDAHU FIYHAA DwARURATUHU INNAD DwARURATA LAATA’DUW ‘ALAL ‘ISwAMI

WHOSE PIETY DID GROW THE MORE THAT HIS NEEDINESS

GREW AND NEED DID NOT IT DULL AT ALL, NOR IN THE LEAST

SUBDUE


28

WAKAIFA TAD,’UW ‘ILAD DUNYA DwURURATU MAN LAWLAAHU LAM TAKHRUJID DUNYA MINAL ADAMI

FOR HOW COULD WORLDLY WANTS INDUCE HIM LOW TO

BOW THE ONE FOR WHOSE SAKE CAME THE WORLD FROM

NAUGHT TO NOW?

MUHAMMADUN SAYYIDUN KAWNAYNI WATHAQALAIN

WALFARIQAYNI MIN URBINw WAMIN ‘AJAMI

MUHAMMAD, SAYYID (MASTER) OF THE CREATIONS TWAIN THE BEST AMONGST THE ARABS ALL, AND THE BEST OF THE

REMAIN


29

NABIYYUNAL AAMIRUNNAHIY FALAA AHADUN ‘ABARRA FIY QAWLI LAA MINHU WALAA NA’AMI

OUR NABI HE IS, THE ONE WHOSE AUTHORITY IS ABSOLUTE TRUE OF WORD AND PRECISE OF SPEECH WAS HE TO THE

ROOT!

HUWAL HABIYBUL LADHI TURJAA SHAFAA’ATUHU LIKULLI HAWLIN MINAL AHWAALI MUQTAHIMI

HE IS THE BELOVED WHO ALONE IS ALLOWED TO

INTERCEDE ON THE DAY OF ACCOUNT, WHEN ALONE HIS PLEAS WILL

ALLAH HEED


30

DA’AA ILALLAAHI FAL MUSTUMSIKUNA BIHI MUSTUMSIKUNA BIHABLIN GHAYRI MUN FASIMI

HE SUMMONED US TO RISE AND OF ALLAH’S ROPE TAKE

FIRM GRASP TO BE SAFE AND SECURE IF WE’D HOLD IT TIGHTLY IN OUR

CLASP

FAAQAN NABIYINA FIY KHALAQINW.WA FIY KHULUQIN

WALAM YUDAANUHU FIY ILMINW WALA KARAMI

OF THE MESSENGERS OF ALLAH ALL, HE’S OF THE STATION FORE

IN FORM, NOBILITY, COMPASSION, KINDNESS, AND INFINITLY MORE


31

WAKULLUHUM MIR.RASULIL.LAHI MULTAMISUN GgARFAN MINAl BAHRI ‘AW RASHFAN MINAD

DIYAMI

WHEREOF HE IS AS AGAINST THE REST LIKE THE BOUNDLESS SEA

FOR THE OTHERS DID FROM HIS LOT ATTAIN BUT ONLY PARTIALLY

WA WAQIFUNA LADAYHI INDA HAD.DIHIMI MIN NUQTwATIL ‘ILMI ‘AWMIN SHAKLATIL HIKAMI

AND SWIFT THEY WERE TO ACCEPT AND EMBRACE THEIR

LESSER LOT WHICH OF KNOWLEDGE WAS A GRAIN AND OF WISDOM

A JOT


32

FAHUWAL LADHI TAMMA MA’NAHU WA SwURATUHU THUM MASwTwAFAAHU HABEEBAN BAARI’UN

NASAMI

FOR WITH HIM ENDED, INSIDE OUT, PERFECTION IN CREATION ALL

THEN THE CREATOR CHOSE HIM FOR HIMSELF AND DID, “BELOVED,” CALL

MUNAZZAHUN ‘ANSHARIYKIN FIYMAHAA SINIHI FAJAW HARUL HUSNI FIYHI GAIRU MUNQASIMI

AND IN CREATION ALL THERE IS NO ONE AS COMELY AND

COMPLETE A JEWEL HE IS OF INDESCRIBABLE FORM AND OF BEAUTY

REPLETE


33

D’AMAD.DA’AT HUN,NASAARAA FIY NABIY.YIHIMI WAHKUM BIMAA SHI’TA MAD-HAN FIYHI

WAHTAKIMI

COUNT THE VIRTUES OTHERS VAUNT OF THEIR NABIS AS SMALL

THEN HIS, IN THE FINEST TERMS, EXERT YOUR BEST TO EXTOL

WANSUB ILAA DHAATIHI MAASHI’TA MIN SHARAFIN

WANSUB ILA QADRIHI MASH’I’TA MIN IZwAMI

THEN TO HIS CHARACTER ACCORD NOBILITY BEYOND COMPARE

AND TO HIS GREATNESS, THE DEGREE SINGULARLY RARE


34

FA’INNA FADwLA RASULILLAHI LAYSA LAHU HADDUN FAYU’RIBA ‘ANHU NAATwIQUN BIFAMI

OF HIS EXCELLENCE YOU’LL FIND NO PEER IN CREATION

ALL NOR CAN THE TONGUE EXPRESS AND DO IT JUSTICE

WITHAL

LAW NAASABAT QADRAHU AAYAATUHU ‘IZwAMAN ‘AHYAS.MUHU HEENA YUD’AA DAARI SARRI MAMI

BUT THAT MATERIAL FORM COULD HAVE REFLECTED HIS

GREATNESS TRUE THEN WOULD LIFELESS BONES HAVE RISEN AGAIN,

RESTORED ANEW


35

LAM YAMTAHINNA BIMA TA’YAL UQOOLU BIHI HIRSwAN ‘ALAINA FALAM NARTAB WALAM NAHIMI

HE GAVE NOT OUR MINDS, BY COMPLEX SAYINGS, UNDUE

STRAIN BUT TOOK GREAT CARE TO MAKE THE TRUTH SIMPLE AND

PLAIN

‘A’YALWARAA FAHMU MA’NAAHU FALAYSA YURAA FILQURBI WALBU’DI FIHI GhAIRU MUNFAHIMI

BUT HIS INNER PERFECTION WAS WAY BEYOND MERE

MORTALS’ KEN NONE, NEAR OR FAR, BUT SCARECLY COULD VOICE OR

PEN


36

KASHSHAMSI TAZwHARU LIL’AYNAYNI MIMBU’UDIN SwGhIRATANw WATUKILLUT TwARFA MIN ‘AMAMI

AS DOES THE DISTANT SUN LOOK SMALL TO OUR NARROW

MIND YET EASILY ITS PIERCING RAYS OUR EYES WILL BLIND

WAKAIFA YUDRIKU FID.DUNYA HAQIQATAHU QAWMUN NIYAAMUN TASALLAW ‘ANHU BILHULUMI

AND HOW COULD WORDLY SENSE PERCEIVE HIS REALITY

CLEAR A SLEEPING FOLK SAW HIM COME AND AS IF IN DREAM

APPEAR


37

FAMABLAGhUL ‘ILMI FIYHI ‘ANNAHU BASHARUN WA ANNAHU KHAIRU KHALQILLAAHI KULLIHIMI

AT BEST WE CAN BUT SPEAK OF HIM BY WROLDLY TERMS

AND NORMS WHEN THE TRUTH IS THAT, IN CREATION ALL, HIS IS THE BEST

OF FORMS

WAKULLU AAYIN ‘ATAR RUSLUL KIRAAMU BIHAA FA’INNAMAT TASwALAT MIN NUWRIHI BIHIMI

AND ALL THE MIRACLES THAT MESSENGERS BEFORE HIM

PERFORMED IN TRUTH FROM HIS PERFECT LIGHT TOOK SHAPE AND WERE

FORMED


38

FAINNAHU SHAMSU FADLIN HUM KAWAKIBUHA UZ.HIRNA ANWAARAHAA LIN NAASI FIZ.ZULAMI

FOR IN MERIT HE IS LIKE THE SUN, JUST LIKE THE DAYLIGHT,

BRIGHT WHILE THEY ARE BUT LIKE STARS THAT SHINE IN THE

DULLNESS OF THE NIGHT

ی اذا طلعت فی الکون عم ھدا حت

ھا العلمین و احیت سائر األ◌مم

HATTA IDHA TALA ‘AT FILKAWNI AMMA HUDA HAL AALAMEENA WA AHYAT SAA’IRAL ‘UMAMI

HE ROSE AS DOES THE ORB THAT SETS THE HEAVENS AFIRE

AND GAVE THE LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE TO THE WORLD ENTIRE


39

AKRIM BIKHALQI NABIY’IN DHAANAHU KHULUKUN BILHUSNI MUSHTAMILIN BIL.BISHRI MUT.TASIMI

NOBLE HE WAS OF CHARACTER, AND PERFECT HE WAS OF

FORM BY BEAUTY HIGH ADORNED, YET MADE TO APPEAR THE

NORM

KADH.DHAHRI FIY TARAFINw WALBADRI FIY SHRAFINw

WAL BAHRI FIY KARAMINw WADDAHRI FIY HIMAMI

THE FLOWER HE WAS IN BLOOM, THE BRILLIANT ORB OF

THE MOON AN OCEAN HE WAS OF GENEROSITY, IN COURAGE THE

GREATEST BOON


40

KA’ANNAHU WAHWA FARDUN MIN JALAALATIHI FIY ASKARIN HEENA TALQAAHU WA FIY HASHAMI

EVEN WHEN ALONE, HE APPEARED EXEEDINGLY GRAND AS IF HE RODE AT THE HEAD OF A HOST OF MEN AT HIS

COMMAND

KA’ANNAMAL LU’LUW’UL MAKNUWNU FIY SADAFIN MIM’MA’DINAA MANTIQIN MINHU WA MUBTASAMI

AS PRISTINE PEARLS THAT FRESHLY OUT OF THE OYSTER

GLOW WERE HIS WORDS AND SMILE THAT SHONE AND

BRILLIANTLY DID SHOW


41

LA TEEBA YA’DILU TURBAN DwAMMA ‘A’ZwUMAHU TwUWBAA LIMUNTASHIQIN MINHU WA

MULTATHIMI

THE SCENT OF HIS FRAGRANT FORM WAS JUST AN INDESCRIBABLE BLISS

BLEST IS HE WHO’S SMELT IT AND HIS SCENTED HAND CAN KISS.


42

SECTION 4

The Advent of the Prophet (PBUH)

The Lord of the Worlds created the universe by willing it, and He did it with Haqq – Haqq is Truth, but more aptly, in this context, it means Order. Order implies that everything is given its proper structure, character and place in the integral whole. There is Perfection, Precision, Integrity and Balance.

Balance (Midhaan) is a key concept mentioned in the Quran and links with Rahma, or Mercy. This Order and Balance, were it even slightly imperfect, there would be, for us, no existence. And He, the Creator, with His Attention gives it form and existence, moment by moment.

What we sense and perceive of this integral whole within the limits of our physical faculties, although it is a minute fragment of the total Reality, is the outward expression of His Will. Correspondingly, He has given us reason and intelligence with which we are meant to recognise, in the heavens and earth, and in our own selves, His Signs, and be able to discern what is beyond the obvious and superficial.

We learn and understand how we relate to everything and how everything relates to us. This is the seeking of knowledge so that we may know ourselves. As we grow to know ourselves, we get to know the Creator, and experience the fact that we exist only because He keeps Order and renews it moment by moment by His Intent. He says’ “Be! And it is.”

In truth, we are what we know! If we only ‘know’ ourselves as superficial phenomena and sophisticated


43

machines, then we have limited all inquiry and we truly are what we think we are, and, so, we will have limited ourselves to that and nothing else. But if, by God’s Grace, we are able to plumb the deeper depths of our being, then we might realise our essential nature, of which the body and brain are an extension, and we will tap into the greater reality of ourselves.

Allah sends his messengers and revelations with the Truth, Haqq, to enable us to do this. By living in accordance with Haqq, we act in harmony and concert with all there is in the Universe and thereby fulfill our destiny. Thereby we rise above our mortal and physical limitations and grow the capacity to move beyond them on the way to our return to Him, as the returning echo of His Cry, “Be!”.

In science is evidence that the smallest particle of matter is linked with the entire universe and, in turn, with our consciousness. Our consciousness is all we are. When our consciousness is fragmented or attenuated, or becomes dissipated, we go adrift and lose our bearings, and so too does the universe which has given us birth and is made to sustain and nurture us, so that, in unison, we serve and fulfill our destiny and discharge our trust.

When we fail in this and act in opposition to the very covenant whereby we secured our existence, then our own being begins to malfunction. We become more and more estranged from our own true nature and essence, and, simultaneously, we become estranged and alienated from God. In simple terms, the heart dies. Things fall into disorder in and around us, and we lose our humanity, which is reflected by the quality of Mercy in us. Stripped of it, we become worse than beasts; we become machines, spiritually deaf, dumb and blind, or, simply, dead. In this


44

deviated, disordered state, we fall out of harmony with others and the world.

Our place and connection with the Universe become dysfunctional and unstable, because everything else works in accordance with and in submission to Allah’s Will, while we are uniquely given the capacity to make choices. This dichotomy and dissonance becomes apparent in and around us.

Nature’s rebellion is but a signal for us to beware and take remedial action. As intelligent beings we are meant to be attentive and heed these warnings and act accordingly, but our base self is drawn to darkness, and darkness too loves to devour the light in our souls.

For as long as there are beings who recognise their true nature and state as God’s creatures, and strive to perform their proper functions, we and our universe will be saved and preserved.

As has been evident over the ages, the Lord of the Universe intervenes when Haqq has to be restored and His Mercy moves Him so to do, and He sends His Mercy in a manner that can best serve to bring us back to the Path that will enable us to fulfill our destiny.

The world, and, indeed, the whole universe witnesses and acknowledges that advent in various ways, and such was the advent of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. He was born in Mecca in the year 570 CE.


45

ABAANA MAWLIDUHU ‘ANTIYBI ‘UNSURIHI YAATEEBA MUBTADA’IN MINHU WA MUKHTATAMI

HIS BIRTH WAS PROOF OF HIS ORIGIN AND LINEAGE PURE EXCELLENT WAS HIS ADVENT AND HIS PARTING EXCELLENT

SURE

YAWMUN TAFARRASA FIYHIL FURSU ‘ANNAHUMU QAD ANDHIRUW BIHULUWLIL BUW’SI WAN NIQAMI

THE PERSIANS FELT THAT NOW HAD COME THAT FATEFUL

DAY, CHASTISEMENT AND THEIR HUMBLING LOW IMMINENT

NOW LAY


46

WABAATA ‘IYWAANU KISRAA WAHWA MUNSwADI’UN KASHAMLI ASw.HAABI KISRA GhAYRA MULUTA’IMI

KHUSRU’S PALACE WALLS DID THROB AND SHAKE IN

CRUMBLING SWAY AND PLUNGED WERE HIS COHORTS IN THE DEPTHS OF

DISARRAY

WANNARU KHAMIDATUL ANFAASI MIN ‘ASAFIN ALAYHI WANNAHRU SAAHIYL ’AYNI MIN SADAMI

AND WOEFULLY DID FLICKER AND FAINT THE ETERNAL

FLAME AND FULL-FLOWING RIVERS, ALAS, TO SORRY TRICKLE

CAME


47

WASAA’A SAAWATA ‘ANGhAADwAT BUHAYRATUHA WARUDDA WAARIDUHAA BILGhAYZwI HIYNA

ZwAMIY

AND THE LAKE BY SAAWAH! HOW COULD IT RUN SO DRY! THAT WATER-BEARERS, EMPTY-GOURDS, PLAINTIVELY CRY!

KANNA BIN.NAARI MAABILMAA’I MIN BALALIN HUDHNANw WABILMAA’I MABINNAARI MIN

DwARAMI

IT WAS AS THOUGH FIRE HAD EXCHANGED FOR WETNESS ITS BURNING FLAME

AS HAPPENS WHEN WET TEARS OF REGRET HOTLY SCALD AND INFLAME


48

WALJINNU TAHTIFU WAL ANWAARU SAATwI’ATUN WALHAQQU YUZwHARU MIM.M’ANANw WAMIN

KALIMI

AND THE DJINN, AROUSED, DID RAISE A DIN WITH THUNDER AND WITH LIGHT

AND HAQQ SHONE BRIGHT AND RESOUNDED IN A CHORUS IN THE NIGHT

‘AMUW WA SwAMMUWAA FA’I’ILAANUL BASHAA’IRI LAM

TUSM’A WABAARIQATUL’INDHAARI LAM TUSHAMI

UNBELIEF MADE SOME OF THEM DISMISSIVE OF THE TIDINGS GLAD

AND OBLIVIOUS OF PROPHETIC PORTENTS THEY HAD LONG BEFORE HAD


49

MIMBA’DI MA ‘AKHBARAL AQWAAMA KAAHINUHUM BI.ANNA DIYNAHUMUL MU’WAJJA LAM YAQUMI

FROM PREDICTIONS MADE BY THEIR OWN SOOTHSAYERS

IN THE PAST THAT THEIR RELIGION WAS DOOMED TO FALL AND COULD

NEVER LAST

WAB’ADA MA ‘AAYANUW FIL’UFUQI MIN SHUHUBIN MUNQADwATINw WAFQA MAAFIL ‘ARDwI MIN

SANAMI

‘TWAS THEN THAT STARS IN THE SKY DID SLIP AND, STREAKING, FALL

HERALDING TOO THE FALL OF THEIR IDOLS, TOGETHER ONE AND ALL


50

HATTA GhADAA ANTAREEQIL WAHYI MUNHADHIMUN

MINAS SHAYATEENI YAQFUW ’ITHRA MUNHADHIMI

AND SO IN PANIC WROUGHT BY INSPIRATION’S DAZZLING DESCENT,

THE FLEEING DEVILS, FEARFUL, ROSE AND, HASTY, HURTLING WENT

KA ‘ANNAHUM HARABAN ‘ABTwAALU ‘ABRAHATIN AW’ASKARUN NILHASAA MIR RAAHATAYHI RUMIYI

A VISION THAT DID ABRAHA’S HOARDS SHARP BRING TO

MIND WHEN SWARMING SWALLOWS WITH PEBBLES PELTED THEM

BEHIND


51

NABDHAN BIHI BA’ADA TASBIYHIN BIBATwNIHIMA NABDHAL MUSABBIHI MIN AHSHA’I MULTAQIMI

OR THE STONES THAT FOUND THEIR TARGET FLUNG BY HIS

HOLY HAND OR OF HIM WHOSE PRAYER IN THE FISH’S GUT DELIVERED

BACK TO LAND


52

Section 5

Miracles of and on account of the Prophet (PBUH)

The miraculous is there all around us, if we but had the eyes to see.

As a child of six or so, I stood next to my mother watching, as an old man (a Malawian watchman we had) stood at the bottom of the steps in front of us and chanted from an open Quran, whilst a wall of fire raged towards us, driven by a soughing wind.

Suddenly, as if by some unseen giant pouring invisible buckets of water, the flames closest to us started to die off, snuffed out like flames on a candle. The fire lost its force and the flames petered out. The wind too seemed to suddenly die down.

It all happened so quickly, but there was no mistaking the fact that some unseen force had intervened. As if by an unspoken agreement, neither my mother (to my knowledge) nor I ever mentioned this extraordinary event to anyone. I never ceased to feel privileged to have witnessed it.

When we encounter the extraordinary, the mind rebels and goes to impossible lengths to reduce what it cannot comprehend to something that will not disturb its complacency. We have the sense to know that there is a lot we do not know, or sense or perceive, but, often, fear or arrogance leads us to dismiss the reality that we cannot perceive. We also often refuse to realise that we don’t know what we don’t know, and thereby deny ourselves knowledge that might liberate us and allow us to progress beyond our limitations.


53

But the universe is cognizant and will consort with one whose purpose and motivation is pure and Divinely ordained. The miraculous accompanied the Prophet (PBUH) at every moment, but he shunned displays. He knew how miracles of his predecessors had left their adversaries unmoved and, in fact, were used against them.

Many of the Prophet’s (PBUH) miracles were noted and taken with a matter-of-fact nonchalance. His companions saw them occur, not as one might observe magical tricks, but as the unexpected and extraordinary, almost surreptitiously blended and woven into the daily parade of life and the ebb and flow of events. The miraculous undertone strengthened their faith and conviction beyond measure.


54

JA’AT LIDA’WAATIHIL ASHJARU SAJIDATAN TAMSHEE ‘ILAIHI ‘ALAA SAAQIN BILAA KADAMI

UPON HIS CALL, IN REVERENCE, DID THE TREES BEND AND

BOW AND TO APPROACH HIM. WITH THEIR ROOTS, THE DUSTY

GROUND PLOUGH

KA ‘ANNAMA SATARAT SATARAN LIMAA KATABAT FURUW’UHAA MINBADIY’IL KHATTwI BIL.LAQAMI

AND, AS IF THEY MEANT A PRESCRIPTED WRIT TO BOLDLY

DISPLAY, THEIR CURLICUE BRANCHES SPELT OUT LETTERS HIS

PERFECTION TO CONVEY


55

MITHLAL GhAMAMATI ‘ANNA SAARA SAA’IRATAN TAQIYHI HARRA WATwIYSIN LILHAJIYRI HAMIY

IN THE MANNER THAT DID CLOUDS FORMED IN TRAIL

OVER HIM SAIL AND WHEN THE SUN WAS AT ITS ZENTIH SHADED HIM WITH

THEIR VEIL

AQSAMTU BILQAMARIL MUNSHAQQI ‘INNA LAHU MINQALBIHI NISBATAN MABRURATAL QASAMI

AND I SWEAR BY THE MOON THAT WITH A GESTURE HE DID

SPLIT IN TWO THIS OATH HAS AS WELL A LINK WITH HIS HEART THAT’s

ABSOLUTELY TRUE


56

WAMA HAWAA ALGhAARU MIN KHAIRINw WAMIN KARAMIN

WAKULLU TwARFIM MINALKUFFAARI ‘ANHU ‘AMIY

HOW SAFE WAS MADE FOR HIM THE CAVE THAT FATEFUL DAY, WE FIND,

THAT HIS PURSUERS WITH OPEN EYES WERE RENDERED UTTERLY BLIND

FAS.SIDQU FILGhAARI WASSIDDIYQU LAM YARIMA

WAHUM YAQUWLUWNA MAABILGhARI MIN ‘ARIMI

TRUTH WAS IN THE CAVE, AND SIDDIQUE TOO, BUT COULDN’T BE SEEN

SO LEFT THEY WITH THE WORDS, “NO ONE IN THIS CAVE HAS BEEN”.


57

ZwANNULHAMAAMA WAZwANNUL’ANKABOOTA ALAA KHAIRIL BARIYYATI LAM TANSUJ WALAM

TAHUMI

THE CAVE WAS BLOCKED BY A SPIDER’S WEB AND THE HOME OF A NESTLING DOVE

BUT THE PERSUERS SAW THEM NOT AS MIRACLES WROUGHT BY THE ONE ABOVE

WAQAAYATULLAHI AGhNAT ANMUDwAA ‘AFATIN MINAD DURUW’I WA ‘AN‘AALIN MINAL ‘UTwUMI

IT WAS A BOON FROM ALLAH HIMSELF, A GIFT IN DEVICES

TWO AN ARMOUR IN DISGUISE, IT WAS, AND A FORTRESS

PLACED IN LIEU


58

LAA TUNKIRIL WAHYA MIN RU’.YAAHU INNA LAHU QALBAN IDHAA NAAMATIL ‘AYNAANI LAM

YANAMI

INSPIRATION IN DREAM-LIKE STATE DID UPON HIM SURE DESCEND

WHOSE HEART WAS AWAKE AND EYES TO SLEEP DID NE’ER CONDESCEND

WA DHAAKA HEENA BULUWGgIM MIN NUBUWWATIHI

FALAYSA YUNKARU FIYHI HAALU MUHTALIMI

AND THESE IT WAS IN THE FLOWERING OF HIS PROPHETHOOD HE VIEWED

WHEN DREAMS PROVE TRUE AND DECEIVE NOT, NOR DO THEY DELUDE


59

TABARAKALLAHU MAA WAHYUN BIMUKTASABIN WALA NABIYUN ‘ALA GhAYBIN BIMUT.TAHAMI

GLORY BE TO ALLAH! THAT NONE CAN WAHI

(INSPIRATION) PRETEND OR FAKE NONE A NABI WHO SPOKE FROM THE UNSEEN DID

PREVIOUSLY FORSAKE

ایاتھ الغر ال یخفی علی أحد بدونھا العدل بین الناس لم یقم

AAYAATUHUL GhURRA LAA YAKHFAA ‘ALAA

’AHADIN BIDUWNIHAL ‘ADLU BAYNAN NAASI LAM YAQIMI

HIS CLAIMS WERE TRUE AND CLEAR THAT NO ONE EVER

COULD BELIE OR ELSE HOW COULD HIS IMPASSIONED CALL HE EVER

JUSTIFY


60

KAM’ABRA’AT WASwEEBAN BIL LAMSI RAAHATUHU WA ‘ATLAQAT ‘ARIBANm MIN RIBQATIL LAMAMI

HOW OFTEN HAS RELIEF FROM DISEASE BEEN GIVEN BY HIS

TOUCH AND SANITY RESTORED TO THOSE WHO WERE INSANE AS

MUCH

WA’AHYATIS SANATASH SHAHBAA’A D’AWATUHU HATTAA HAKAT GhURRATAN FIL ‘A’ASURID

DUHUMI

HIS PRAYERS DID THE PAINFUL YEARS OF FAMINE CAST BEHIND

TILL THOSE YEARS MERELY AS A JOT DID LATER COME TO MIND


61

BI’AARIDIN JAADA ‘AW KHILTAL BITwAAHA BIHA SAYBAN MINAL YAMMI ‘AWSAIYLAN MINAL

‘ARIMI

WHEN A CLOUD BURST AND POURED ABROAD LIKE AN OVERFLOWING STREAM

LIKE GUSHING FROM THE SEA DID ROAR THE TORRENTS OF ARIM


62

Section 6

The Miracle of the Holy Qur’an

The Holy Virgin Mariam (Mary)(PBUH), had to have been mature and pure to be able and prepared to bear the Word of God, Isa (Jesus) (PBUH), in whom God had breathed His Spirit: the Holy Spirit (Ruhh al Qudus).

Mary had to bear doubts and accusations by the sceptical, cynical and incredulous, and she pointed to the baby to respond on her behalf, and he, Isa (PBUH), spoke and testified to his mother’s truth and honesty, and the doubters and cynics were silenced.

Jesus’ (PBUH) command and authority of the scriptures and prophecies, and especially his miraculous powers, were threatening to the priests who had built their power and influence by claiming exclusive knowledge and mastery of the secrets of the religion. They felt threatened and conspired to eliminate him rather than submit to his mastery and message.

But Isa (PBUH) knew what Allah had intended for him and he told his followers that he had to go and prophesied that the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter was yet to come who would speak of things they were not yet ready to hear, and what he would say would be not from him but God.

Muhammad (PBUH), orphaned in childhood, was descended from a noble family. He had to be a noble, and mature, yet unlettered, untaught, pure and untainted by falsehood or prejudice, to be prepared and able to receive and support within him the Word of Allah.

The first encounter with the angel Gabriel in the privacy and solitude of the mountain cave, where


63

Muhammad (PBUH) went into periodic seclusion, was terrifying and overwhelmed him with fear for his life and mind.

When Gabriel (PBUH) had commanded him to read, he had protested and pleaded ignorance, but the angel was not to be deterred. He persisted and commanded repeatedly, “Read,” (or “recite”) and eventually he had forcefully poured the words into the core of Mohammad’s (PBUH) being. The Prophet (PBUH) fled for dear life returning home extremely traumatised and distressed, to be comforted and reassured by his loving wife.

It took reassurances from his own and others, and much time, anxiety and anguish, for him to accept that something extraordinary was indeed happening to him.

The Quran was revealed to him gradually, in a seemingly fragmented manner, over the following twenty-odd years.

In Arabia, then, poetry was the highest and most potent form of expression. It shaped discourse and relationships. The educated and versed Arabs had acquired the capacity to instantly remember and recall recitals, while the written word was barely in use, The Quran was unlike anything they had ever heard before, a literary bomb that stretched the language to its extreme limits and caused awe and ecstasy.

Muhammad’s (PBUH) reputation for truth, honesty and trustworthiness could not be impugned because it had been seen, tried and tested over 40 years in a community that held him in high esteem. He was illiterate and far from being so skilled as to produce sublime poetry of unprecedented literary quality that was and still proves to be impossible to imitate. So it was that the Quran itself


64

spoke and stood up to the Prophet’s (PBUH) doubters and detractors , and testified to its own Holy nature.

Many heard some of its verses for the first time and were instantly won over. Even Muhammad’s (PBUH) bitterest enemies had to admit that the Quran was powerful and compelling beyond compare, and all their efforts to silence him and divert people from hearing its verses were in vain.

The Quran speaks to each according to his or her level of understanding, intention and sincerity. Many are those who have studied it all their lives and say with absolute certainty that its scope and profundity is multilayered and inexhaustible, and, in fact, beyond human mastery. With the right preparation and an open heart and mind, it opens and speaks to each one according to his or her capacity and disposition.

The Quran, unlike Jesus (PBUH), could not be silenced or eliminated. It is the living and eternal Word. It is the Prophet‘s (PBUH) greatest miracle that makes all others pale into insignificance. All miracles are by leave of Allah, but the Qur’an especially is not the Prophet’s (PBUH) work as such, but one that was wrought through him by Allah.

It opens with the words,

“In the Name of Allah, the Infinitely Compassionate, the Immeasurably Merciful.

In the Hadith Qudsi – [God’s sayings Inspired in the Prophet (PBUH), (not being part of the Quranic Revelation)] He says: “I was a Hidden Treasure and I wanted to be known, so I created creation …” All that is needed is that we recognize Him and acknowledge Him to rise above our frail


65

materiality and mortality and live in His infinite Mercy and Benevolence.

Allah is beyond description, comparison or perception, but His signs and expressions are perceptible, and He assures us, the moment He introduces Himself to us, that He is Merciful and that His overriding quality and inclination is to mercy and benevolence on which are no limits.

The Prophet (PBUH) has explained mercy thus: God has divided mercy into 100 parts and he has retained with Himself 99 parts and 1 part he has sent to earth. It is by this one part that creatures deal with one another with compassion, so much so that an animal lifts its hoof over its young to prevent it from getting hurt.

Allah has given the creatures of the world a small measure from His Ocean of Mercy. It is by means of the mercy in us that we recognize His Mercy and Benevolence whereof He has given innumerable proofs, signs and hints, and does so with every moment that He holds the world in existence.

Mercy is of the Light of Allah. It is the expression of His Love for all creation. Having been made in His image, we have mercy enshrined in our hearts. It is Mercy that makes us human and enables us to love. We see it in those we love and those who love us see us as a gift of Mercy. Deep in us is the foundation of knowledge and understanding which enables us to know and understand our inner and outer world and our relationship with God. That too is a gift of Mercy

The loss of mercy in us is the most damning of Allah’s retribution and one deeply to be feared. The Prophet (PBUH) despite his exalted status with Allah, feared most


66

that if he lost his sense of gratitude to Allah, he might distance himself from the Sight of His Beloved.

Being stripped from mercy makes us sub-human, easy prey to evil and an instrument of it. It is by God’s Mercy and Grace that we transcend our base selves.

The Prophet (PBUH) and the Quran are from His Mercy. According to tradition, the Prophet’s (PBUH) conduct and character were in absolute accordance and conformity with the Qur’an.


67

DA’NEE WAWASFIYA AAYAATIN LAHU ZwAHARAT ZwUHUWRA NAARIL QIRAA LAYLAN ALAA ’ALAMI

HOW CAN ONE DESCRIBE HIS MIRACLES THAT GLOWED

WITH LIGHT LIKE NIGHT FIRES LIT ON HILL CRESTS HIGH, GUESTS TO

INVITE?

FADDURRU YAZDAADU HUSNAN WAHWA

MUNTAZwIMUN WALAYSA YANQUSU QADRAN WAHWA GgAYRA

MUNTAZwIMI

EACH PEARL IN BEAUTY GROWS THE MORE THAT’S IN A NECKLACE SET

EACH ONE HAS BEAUTY OF ITS OWN EVEN WHEN SOLITARY YET


68

FAMAA TATwAAWULU AAMAALIL MADIYHI ‘ILAA MAAFIHI MINKARAMIL AKHLAAQI WASH SHIYAMI

SO WHY SHOULD THE POET NOT WAX MORE ELOQUENTLY

STILL OF HIM WHO DISPLAYED PERFECTION IN FORM, WORD

AND DRILL

AYAATU HAQQIN MINAR RAHMANI MUH.DATHATUN QADEEMATUN SwIFATUL MAWSwUWFI BILQIDAMI

THE MERCIFUL DID SEND THESE VERSES OF TRUTH ETERNAL,

PURE IMMORTAL WORDS OF INFINITE WORTH AND OF IMPORT

EVERMORE


69

LAMTAQTARIN BIDHAMAANIN WAHYA TUKHBIRUNA

‘ANIL M’AADI WA’AN ‘AADINw WA’AN IRAMI

THAT’RE NOT CONFINED TO EVENTS PAST NOR IN FINITY BOUND

BUT GUIDANCE BRING FOR NOW AND BEYOND THAT IS IN HISTORY WOUND

DAAMAT LADAYNA FAFAAQAT KULLA MU’JIZATIN MINAN NABIYEENA IDHJAA’AT WALAM TADUMI

’TIS AN EVERLASTING MIRACLE THAT WILL ALWAYS BE

ALIVE UNLIQUE, IT IS PRESENT PROOF AND WILL EVER LIVE AND

THRIVE


70

MUHAKKAMAATUN FAMAA YUBQEENA MIN SHUBAHIN

LIDHIY SHIQAAQINw WAMAA YABGgINA MIN HAKAMI

OF WISDOM CLEAR AND OF PATENT SENSE SUBLIMELY

REPLETE NO ROOM IS THERE IN IT TO DISPUTE, NOR NEED TO

JUDGEMENT METE

MAA HUWRIBAT QAT.TU ‘ILLAA ‘AADAMIN

HARABIN ‘A’ADAA AL ‘A’AADIY ‘ILAYHAA MULQIYAS

SALAMI

NO ONE CAN DENY THE TRUTH OF IT BUT ONE AFFLICTED BY HATE

WHOM DEEP AVERSION DOES DEPRIVE OF THE SALUTARY FATE


71

RADDAT BALAAGgTUHA DA’WAA MU’AARIDIHA RADDAL GgAYUWRI YADAL.JAANIY ‘ANIL

HURAMI

ITS ELOQUENCE MADE OBJECTIONS MOOT AND OF SIMPLY NO AVAIL

JUST AS A NOBLE KEEPS HIS SANCTUM SAFE AND SECURE FROM ASSAIL

LAHAA MA’AANIN KAMAWJIL BAHRI FIY MADADIN WA FAWQA JAWHARIHI FIL HUSNI WAL QIYAMI

ITS IMPORT LIKE THE SURGING SWELL AND THE TEEMING

WAVES OF THE SEA DEEPER AND BEJEWELLED MORE THAN EVER THE SEA

COULD BE


72

WAMAA TU’ADDU WALAA TUHSAA ‘AJA’IBUHAA WALAA TUSAAMU ‘ALAL ‘IKTHAARI BIS SA’AMI

COUNTLESS ARE ITS WONDERS AND DEEP IN MYSTERY

STEEPED NOR’D REPEATED READINGS E’ER ONE’S GRASP OF IT

COMPLETE

QARRAT BIHAA ‘AIYNU QAARIYHAA FAQULTU LAHA

LAQAD ZwAFIRTA BIHABLILLAHI FA’A TASIMI

RECITING IT DOES BLESSINGS BRING AND COOL THE EYES ARE MADE

AND ONE’S LAID HOLD OF ALLAH’S ROPE NEVER TO BE WAYLAID


73

‘IN TATLUHAA KHIFATAN MINHARRI NAARI LAZwAA

‘ATwFA’ATA HARRA LAZwAA MINwWIRDI HISH.SHABIMI

IF YOU RECITE IT OUT OF DREAD OF THE RAGING BLAZE

AND ITS FEAR HAVE NO FEAR, FOR LIKE WATERS COOL, IT’LL DOUSE IT TO

DISAPPEAR

KA’ANNAHAL HAWDdU TABYADDdUL WUJUHUBIHI MINAL ‘USAATI WAQADJAA’UWHU KAL HUMAMI

‘TIS THE SPRING OF KAWTHAR THAT MAKES FACES SHINE

AND BEAM WITH LIGHT CLEANSED PURE OF SIN AND BLEMISH AUGHT, BOTH

GREAT AS WELL AS SLIGHT


74

WA KASSIRAATwI WA KALMIYDHANI MA’ADILATAN FALQISTwU MINGgHAYRI HAAFINNAASI LAM

YAQUMI

JUST LIKE THE BRIDGE THAT’S PERFECT STRAIGHT, AND THE TRUELY BALANCED SCALE

WITHOUT WHICH MAN WOULD KNOW NOT JUSTICE, NOR’D IT E’ER PREVAIL

LAA TA’JABAN LIHASUWDIN RAAHA YUNKIRUHAA TAJAAHULAN WAHWA ‘AYNUL HAADHIQIL FAHIMI

WONDER NOT THAT BY THE MEAN IT’S RESENTED AND IT’S

SPURNED THEIR IGNORANCE IS MERELY FEIGNED AND DELIBERATELY

TURNED


75

QUDTUNKIRUL AYNU DdAW’ASH.SHAMSI MIN RAMADIN

WAS YUNKIRUL FAMUTwA’AMAL MAA’I MIN SAQAMI

DOES NOT MERE DUST THE SUN OBSCURE AND BLIND THE

SEEING EYES? OR, IN SICKNESS, EVEN WATER TASTE FOUL AND

OTHERWISE?


76

Section 7

The Prophet(PBUH)’s Ascension - MIRAAJ

“Glory be to One who journeyed at night with His servant from the Musjid al Haram to the Musjid Al Aqsa - the preceincts whereof We have blessed - that We may enlighten him with Our Proofs. Assuredly, He is the All-Seeing the All-Hearing” Qur’an 17.1.

The Prophet’s (PBUH) ascension happened suddenly and unexpectedly. There is a suggestion in the above verse of the Quar’an that the Prophet was anxious and sought reassurance and guidance concerning his status and mission, and the Ascension was the incontrvertible proof of it provided to him by his Lord.

In this extraordinary journey, he was taken by night from the Haram in Makkah to the Haram in Jerusalem (Masjid Al-Aqsa) where he met all the messengers of Allah who had come before him, and where he led them in prayer. This confirmed his status as the Imam of all messengers – the First among Equals - as well as the final messenger whose mission was to confirm and complete what all the former messengers had brought.

This event also confirmed the status of of Al-Aqsa as the sacred place where all the messengers and true beliefs came together in solidarity, and it alligned the Masjid in Jerusalem with those in Makkah and Madinah.

This supernatural event, If it had not been attested to by physical signs and corroborations by others who had no connection with the Prophet (PBUH), the fact of the journey would have been a question entirely of belief in his integrity. In fact, when he announced that he had been on


77

this journey to Jerusalem and onward into the Heavens, his adversaries were jubilant. They felt that they could now prove that he was a pretender and show that he had lost his mind. This claim would make a laughing stock of him, they thought.

They sought out Abubakr (RA), his closest friend and supporter, and a person of some influence and standing in the community in MaKKah, and told him of Muhammad’s (PBUH) ‘fantastic’ claim. For an instant Abubakr (RA) was nonplussed, but he quickly regained his composure and proclaimed that, if Muhammad (PBUH) had made such a claim, then he must indeed have journeyed to Jerusalem and beyond. After all, in relation to the fact that he brought Word (the revelation) directly from God Almighty, his journey was a relatively small matter.

Neverteless, he, Abubaker, who was well travellled and was familiar with Jerusalem, asked Muhammad (PBUH) – who had never been there - to describe it to him, and the Prophet (PBUH) responded in sufficiently accurate detail to satisfy Abubakr.

Amongst other similar proofs, there was a caravan the Prophet (PBUH) had seen headed for Mecca and he gave particulars of it and its approach and its approximate arrival some days away, all of which proved true. At any rate, the hopes of the Quraishi adversaries were dashed as, progressively, the Prophet (PBUH) gained people’s trust and confidence and his account withstood the test of time. Rather than weaken him, the event cemented and strengthened the bond between him and his companions and followers and drew others to Islam.


78

The Qur’an also confirmed his journey beyond to the very Throne of God and the Prophet’s (PBUH) approach to within “two bows’ length or less” of God Himself.

This part of the journey also had a more practical purpose. It was a teaching to Muhammad (PBUH) and it conveyed to him how every human being could gain access to God’s very Presence through the specific spiritual exercise of Salat – a series of physical movements and prostrations combined with the recital of specific verses of the Quran and a particular attitude which is aluded to in the the Prophet’s (PBUH) saying: One should pray as if one sees Allah, for though one sees him not, yet, of a certainty, He sees one. This, in effect, means placing oneself ‘within two bows’ lenth’ of God, or the very Presence of Him.

In The Quran [50;16] Allah says: And We have created man and know what his self whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein and in another Hadith al Qudsi He says: The heavens and the earth cannot contain me, but I am contained in the heart of my servant. So the journey is an internal one into Allah’s Presence where one would gain a true sense of His closeness and immediacy, and Salat is the means for man to transcend his physicality and material limitations to breach the barriers of our mortal prison.

The Prophet (PBUH) returned from the Assension with the prize of Salat. Because of this, we learn that within us is the gateway to the Eternal, and this can be accessed through Salat performed at the appropriate times with perfect intention and attention. The precise manner in which it is meant to be done and the specific verses of the Quran that are employed help to interrupt the cogitative process and the discourse of the reductionist ego; the whisperings of the carnal soul or self.


79

The Prophet {PBUH), by his example, has shown how the Salat can be made progressively more effective by following all the other exercises and disciplines, such as constant ‘Remembrance’, fasting and abstinance that cumulatively prepare the devotee, internally and externally, to advance in the journey.

One can say that each performance is a rung in a ladder in the ascension into His Presence or, perhaps more accurately, the removal of veils that we ourselves, through our worldliness and progressive isolation, have placed between Him and ourselves, till we finally uncover ourselves and find ourselves in His Presence, which is always there. This can be an effort for a lifetime or it can happen in an instant by His Grace.

This section is about this extraordinary Night Journey the purpose of which was ordination of the Prophet (PBUH) as the Last Messanger and the bearer of the defining Message, leaving no doubt in his mind about his own mission, or in the minds of those who believed and followed him that he was truly the Messenger of God. It was, too, the practical orientation and instruction of the Prophet (PBUH) so that he could give humanity the means and method whereby each person can experience a one-on-One connection with Allah to attain the Ultimate Goal and Realisation.


80

YA KHAIRA MANYAMMA MAMAL ‘AAFUWNA SAAHATAHU

SA’YANw WAFAWQA MUTUWNIL ‘AYNUQIR RUSUMI

O FAIREST ONE, TO WHOSE FAMOUS AND GENEROUS COURT

MOUNTED HOSTS TOGETHER FILE AND HASTILY RESORT

WAMAN HUWAL AAYATUL KUBRA LIMU’TABIRIN WAMAN HUWAN NI’MATUL U’ZwMAA

LIMUGhTANIMI

O YOU, WHO ARE THE PERFFECT MODEL FOR MEN’S EMULATION

O YOU, WHO ARE THE ULTIMATE PRIZE, THE BEST COMPENSATION




81

SARAYTA MIN HARAMIL LAYLAN ‘ILAA HARAMIN KAMA SARAI ALBADRU FEE DAAJIN MINAZ

ZULAMI

WHO JOURNEYED FORTH AT THE NIGHT TO DISTANT, SACRED MANSIONS

AS DOES THE MOON THAT JOURNEYS THROUGH DEEP AND DARK DIMENSIONS

WABITTA TARQAA ‘ILAA AN NILTA MANDHILATAN MIN QAABI QAWSAINI LAM TUDRAK WA LAM

TURAMI

AND WENT YOU FURTHER PAST THE POINT ANY CREATURE BEFORE HAS BEEN

TILL JUST AT ‘TWO-BOWS’ LENGTH FROM HIM WHO SEES BUT IS NOT SEEN




82

WAQADDAMATKA JAMIY’UL ANBIYAA’I BIHA WARRUSLI TAQDEEMA MAKHDUWMIN ‘ALAA

KHADAMI

AND THERE DID SERVE YOU ALL YOUR PEERS WHO BEFORE ON EARTH HAD BEEN

AS HUMBLE SERVANTS SERVE THEIR MASTERS, BUT DID LOWER LEAN

WA ANTA TAKHTARIQUS SAB’AT TIBAAQA BIHIM FIY MAWKIBIN KUNTA FIYHI SwAAHIBAL ‘ALAMI

AND ONWARD YOU CROSSED THE SEVEN HEAVENS AND

STILL ROSE FARTHER MORE AHEAD OF YOUR PEERS, THE HOLY STANDARD HIGH ALOFT

YOU BORE




83

HATTA IDHA LAM TADA’ SHAA’WAN LI LAMUSTABIQIN

MINAD DUNUWWI WALAA MARQAN LIMUSTANIMI

TILL LEFT YOU NOTHING MORE FOR OTHERS TO TRY TO ATTAIN

NO QUEST OR GOAL DID THERE REMAIN FOR ANYONE ELSE TO GAIN

KHAFADTA KULLA MAQAAMIN BIL ‘IDhAAFATI ‘IDH

NUWDITA BIRRAFI’ MITHLAL MUFRADIL ‘ALAMI

BUT ALL WHO TRAILED, YOU LEFT BEHIND, WHEN, ON REACHING THE HEIGHT,

YOU ROSE INTO HIS PRESENCE, WHO DID YOU ALONE INVITE




84

KAYMAA TAFUWDHA BIWASLIN ‘AYYI

MUSTATIRIN ‘ANIL ‘UYUWNI WASARRIN AYYI MUKTATIMI

THAT PLACE TO WHICH ALONE YOU ADVANCED AND

ADMISSION DID GAIN WAS IN MYSTERY HID AND BEYOND PERCEPTION EVER WILL

REMAIN

FAHUDHTA KULLA FAKHARIN GhAYRA

MUSHTARAKIN WA JUDHTA KULLA MAQAAMIN GhAYRA

MUDH.DAHAMI

AND SO YOU EARNED ALL THAT THERE IS OF WORTH TO ATTAIN

AND YOU TRANSCENDED ALL THE STATIONS TILL NONE DID THERE REMAIN




85

WA JALLA MIQDAARU MAA WULLIYTA MIR

RUTABIN WA ‘ADHDHA ‘IDRAAKU MAA ‘UWLIYTA MIN

NI’AMI

AND HIGHLY EXALTED WERE THE MERITS THAT ACCORDED YOU YOUR LORD

AND SPREME THE RANKS BEYOND MEASURE THAT WERE YOUR REWARD

BUSHRALANAA MA’SHARAL ’ISLAAMI ‘INNALANAA MINAL ‘INAAYATI RUKNAN GhAYRA MUNHADIMI

SO COME, REJOICE, BELIEVERS ALL, FOR UPON YOU THE

UNIQUE GRACE OF A PILLAR SENT YOU SOLID, STRONG, AND WITH AN

UNSHAKEABLE BASE




86

LAMMA DA’AA ALLAHU DA’IYNA LITwAA’ATIHI BIAKRAMIR RUSULI KUNNA AKRAMAL ‘UMAMI

FOR THAT ALLAH SENT TO YOU, OF MEN, THE NOBLEST ONE

OF ALL ON ACCOUNT OF WHOM IN ALL THE WORLD YOU STAND

EXCEPTIONALLY TALL



87

Section 8 – The courageous struggle of the Prophet (PBUH)

The ruling tribe of Quraysh were rich merchants, who traded across the Arabian Peninsula and far into neighbouring lands in the Roman and Persian empires, and possibly beyond. They were firmly established and powerful, controlling access to the Kaaba, the first House of God built by Abraham and his son, Ishmael.

According to the Quran: Verily, the first House appointed for mankind was that at Bakkah (Makkah), full of blessing, and a guidance for mankind – Quran 3:96

Behold! We gave the site to Ibrahim, of the (Sacred) House, (saying): "Associate not anything (in worship) with Me; and sanctify My House for those who compass it around, or stand up, or bow, or prostrate themselves (facing it in prayer). Quran, 22:26

And remember Ibrahim and Ishmael raised the foundations of the House (With this prayer): "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For Thou art the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing : Quran 2: 127

With these verses, the Quran asserts to all that this is the one, universal and original faith, and that Makkah and the Kaaba are sacred places where the earthly foundations were laid and humanity can experience the nearness of their Lord.

Over the millennia the control of the Kaaba was kept by the founding tribes of Makkah, the principal one being the Quraysh. As is the wont of humans, the controllers had wanted to grow the Kaaba’s (and therefore Makkah’s) appeal to increase their power and influence, and, especially, their wealth.

Makkah, this oasis in the desert wilderness, thus became a commercial hub in the Arabian Peninsula, and the


88

Kaaba thus became a magnet for pilgrimage for the followers of a variety of religions, including sects of Christianity, and beliefs of peoples far and wide in the Peninsula and beyond. A strong synergy developed between the religious and commercial activities to the great satisfaction of those who managed to gain and keep control of the keys of the Kaaba.

Having become a religious hub, the Kaaba was made to house a plethora of idols and symbols so that a number of different tribes, faiths and cults could identify with the edifice and its great importance, and could enjoy the rituals around it whilst engaging in brisk commerce.

The control of Makkah carried great prestige and power. Those who had garnered this clung to it with all their might and saw any threat to their status as virtually an existential one, to be fought with the full force of their might and power.

So when Muhammad (PBUH) called the elders and the influential, and announced to them that he had been sent to call mankind to Allah, the One and Only God, and that they must cleanse their hearts as well as the Kaaba of all profanity, including the large number of idols that had been introduced into the House of God, most of the wealthy and influential were incensed, and, led by some of Muhammad’s (PBUH) own family members, they resolved to oppose him.

For some 11 years thereafter Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions, and growing band of followers were ostracized, hounded, scorned and humiliated. Thorns were strewn in the path of the Prophet (PBUH); he was subjected to constant ridicule, and offal and excrement were thrown on him. He was isolated and his followers too suffered persecution, including torture, death, and banishment.


89

This was a true test of faith. Muhammad (PBUH) and his faithful followers and companions withstood these provocations and atrocities with fortitude. Many of the youth, the poor and the slaves joined the fold, which grew despite the vicious persecution and ostracism. These trials and tribulations tested their resolve and strengthened their will and resilience, preparing them for the struggles ahead. Their persecutors, on the other hand, by their own actions undermined their own moral strength and social standing.

Up to this point, Muhammad (PBUH) had resisted offerings of great wealth and kingship, and had withstood stoically and resolutely all that had been meted out to him and his followers, without resorting to any form of violence. The Quraysh now realised that Muhammad (PBUH) would not be diverted, or made to desist, and the only way was to silence him for good.

Thus, it came about that the Prophet (PBUH) had to flee for his life, take refuge and go into exile in Madinah, where, by God’s Grace, influential tribes had come together to give him safe haven and had accepted him as their mediator and arbitrator. With Madinah now a safe-haven The Makkan Muslims left their homes and most of their belongings, and set out to join him in exile in large numbers.

The Prophet (PBUH) had waited for Allah’s pronouncement on the matter for all this time. Now that the enemy had driven the Muslims away from their homes and deprived them of access to the Haram in Makkah, preventing them from worshipping Allah as they were meant to, they had crossed the red line.

To deprive people of their homes and prevent them from worshipping is to take away not only their essential physical rights and freedom, but also to attempt to imprison


90

or oppress them mentally and spiritually. It is intolerable tyranny and an act of war against God Himself.

And so word came from Allah in the Quran that it was time to fight, to resist and to put the enemies of Allah to flight, or bring them to yield.

Thus began the campaign to intercept the rich caravans belonging to the Makkan elite that plied between commercial centers and passed by close to Madinah. It was a blow that hurt the Qurayshi nobles the most.

They grouped in overwhelming numbers, gathering together all their allies and their powerful weaponry to deal a mortal blow to Muhammad (PBUH) and his small band of stalwarts. It took courage, faith and resilience to stand up to this host with its terrifying size and weaponry. They succeeded not only to withstand the attacks, but to miraculously win battles, or to hold the enemy at bay and somewhat chastened and in disarray,

There were a number of battles over the years before the final victory. Eventually, the Quraysh realised that they would not be able to resist the tide and the inevitable, and agreed on a peace treaty. Shortly afterwards, they allowed the Prophet to enter Makkah and take charge, which the Prophet (PBUH) did with a huge contingent, but without any violence or bloodshed.

This section is an account of the chivalry of the Muslims and their legendary successes, their bravery and their fortitude in the battles that were reluctantly fought in defence and in the discharge of the Prophet’s (PBUH) God-given commission.


91

RAA’AT QULUWBAL’IDAA ANBAA’U B’I.THATIHI KANAB’ATIN AJFALAT GUFLAN MINAL GhANAMI

WITH PANIC WERE STRUCK HIS ENEMIES WHEN HE CAME TO

THE FORE, LIKE WAYWARD SHEEP ARE STRICKEN DUMB BY THE LION’S

ROAR

MAADHAALA YALQAAHUMU FIY KULLI MU’TARAKIN

HATTAA HAKAW BILQANAA LAHMAN ‘ALAA WADhAMI

HE WAIVERED NOT TO FACE THE FOE IN ARMED

OPPOSITION NOR SHRANK FROM BLOODY COMBAT, OR AWESOME

EXECUTION




92

WADDUWL FIRAARA FAKAADUW YAGHBITUWNA BIHI

‘ASHLAA’A SHAALAT M’AL’IQBAANI WAR RAKHAMI

AND SO THE ATTACKERS TURNED AND FLED. PANICED, IN BLIND RETREAT

OR FELL AND BECAME FOR CARRION BIRDS THEIR LIFE SUSTAINING MEAT

TAMDIL LAYAALEE WALAA YADRUWNA ‘IDDATAHAA

MAALAM TAKUN MINLAYALIYL ‘ASHAHURIL HURUMI

AND NIGHTS PASSED BY UNRECKONED, AND NO ONE

THERE DID COUNT BUT FOR NIGHTS THAT WERE SACRED DEEMED AND OF

IMPORT DID AMOUNT




93

KA ‘ANNAMAD DIYNU DDAYFUN HAL.LA

SAAHATAHUM BIKULLI QARMIN ILAA LAHMIL ‘IDAA QARIMI

IT WAS AS IF FAITH HAD INVADED THEIR VERY HOMES AT

FEAST AND WITH RELISH ATE AT WILL WITHOUT HINDRANCE THE

LEAST

YAJURRU BAHRA KHAMIYSIN FAWQA SAABIHATIN

YARMIY BIMAWJIN MANAL ’ABTwAALI MULTATwIMI

A SEETHING OCEAN SURGING IN ARMS HE BOLDLY LED

AFIELD IN TOWERING WAVES THAT RACED AHEAD WITH FLASHING

SWORDS AWIELD




94

MINKULLI MUNTADIBIN LILLAHI MUHTASIBIN

YASTUW BIMUSTA’SILIN LILKUFRI MUSTwALIMI

AND EACH ONE ROSE IN FERVENT HOPE OF A MARTYR’S TRUE REWARD

RIDING WITH HIM TO PUT DENIAL AND UNBELIEF TO THE SWORD

HATTA GHADAT MILLATUL ISLAAMI WAHYA BIHIM

MINm B’ADI GgURBATIHAA MAWSwUWLATAR RAHIMI

THAT BELIEF IN ISLAM MIGHT GROW AND ONCE AGAIN

TAKE HOLD AND THAT TRUE RELIGION MIGHT RETURN TO WHENCE IT

DID UNFOLD




95

MAKFULATAN ‘ABADAM MANHUM BIKHAIRI ‘ABIN WA KHAIRI B’ALIN FALAM TAYTAM WA LAM

TA’IMI

TO NURTURED BE AND TENDED TILL AGAIN IT WAS MATURE TO GROW AND FLOURISH IN ENVIRONS THAT WERE

WHOLESOME AND PURE

HUMUL JIBAALU FASAL ‘ANHUM MUSwAADI MAHUM MAADHA RA’AA MINHUMU FIY KULLI

MUSwTwADAMI

LOOMING MOUNTAINS LOOKED UPON THE BATTLES THAT WERE FOUGHT

AND STOOD AS SILENT WITNESSES OF WHAT THE COMBATS WROUGHT




96

WASAL HUNAINAN WASAL BADRAN WASAL ‘UHUDAN FUSwUWLA HATFIN LAHUM ‘AD.HAA MINAL

WAKHAMI

HUNAIN, BADR AND UHUD, EACH STOOD BY AND WILL BOLDLY ATTEST

HOW DEATH HAD STALKED AND FELLED THE WORST, AS WELL AS THE BEST

ALMUSwDIRIL BIYDdI HUMRAN B’ADA MAA WARADAT

MINAL’IDAA KULLA MUSWADDIN MINAL LIMAMI

WHEN THE FLASH OF SWORD BY THE RED OF BLOOD WAS TAINTED AND DULLED

AND THE GROUND SPRANG BLACK WITH THE HAIR OF HEADS THAT WERE IN BATTLE CULLED




97

WALKATIBEENA BISUMRIL KHATTwI MAATARAKAT AQLAAMUHUM HARFA JISMIN GgAYRA MUN’AJIMI

AND THE LAND WAS STREWN WITH TWISTED STEEL THAT

FORMED ITSELF LIKE SCRIPT THAT SPOKE OF FURY, RAGE AND DEATH IN WRATH AND

TERROR GRIPT

SHAAKYIS-SILAAHI LAHUM SIYMAA TUMAYYIDHUHUM

WALWARDU YAMTAADHU BISSIYMAA ‘ANIS SALAMI

ARMOUR-CLAD YET KNOWN WAS EACH BY A DISTINCTLY TELLING MARK

LIKE A ROSE IS KNOWN THRU THE MESH OF TANGLED THORN AND BARK




98

TUHDYI ‘ILAIKA RIYAAHUN NASwRI NASHRA HUMU FATAHSABUDH DHAHRA FIYL ‘AKMAMI KULLA

KAMIY

THE WINDS OF AID WILL USHER YOU TO BE BY THEIR FRAGRANT SIDE

TILL YOU WILL SEE EACH BRAVE APPEAR A BUDDING FLOWER, EVERY STRIDE

KA’ANNAHUM FIY ZwUHUWRIL KHAYLI NABTU RUBAN

MIN SHIDDATIL HADHMI LAA MIN SHADDATIL HUDHAMI

IT SEEMED AS THOUGH THE HILL WAS ENCRUSTED WITH

BUSHES ALL AFLOWER THEIR FULSOMENESS THOUGH NOT IN FORM BUT WAS IN

BRISTLING POWER




99

TAARAT QULUWBUL ‘IDAA MIMBA’SIHIM FARAQAN WAMAA TUFARRIQU BAYNAL BAHMI WALBUHAMI

THE HEARTS OF THE FOE HAD HEADLONG INTO FEAR AND

TERROR FLOWN FOR WEAKLINGS LATELY SCORNED HAD OF NOW INTO

MIGHTY WORRIORS GROWN

WAMAN TAKUN BIRASULALLAHI NURATTUHU ‘INTALQAHUL USDU FIY AAJAAMIHA TAJIMI

BY RASULALLAH’S PRESENCE THERE, THEY WERE INVINCIBLE

THAT DAY AND THE LION QUAKED IN FEAR IN ITS DEN AS SILENTLY IT

LAY




100

WALANTARAA MINW WALIYYIN GhAIRI MUNTASwIRIN

BIHI WALAA MIN’ADUWWIN GhAIRI MUNQASwIMI

AND HELP WAS THERE FULL AT HAND TO EVERY NEEDY FRIEND

AND EVERY FOE WHO NEARER DREW DID BUT IN JUST PIECES END

‘AHALA ‘UMMATAHU FIY HIRDHI MILLATIHI KALLAYTHI HALLA MA’AL’ASHBAALI FIY ‘AJAMI

HIS UMMAT ALL IN FAITH’S FORTRESS HE HELD SAFE AND

DEAR AS A LION IN THE WILD WILL KEEP HER CUBS, FOR SAFETY,

NEAR




101

KAM JADDALAT KALIMAATULLAHI MIN JADILIN FIYHI WAKAM KHASwAMAL BURHAANU MIN

KHASwIMI

AND TO ALL DID ALLAH’S WORDS THEIR VERITY DISPLAY PROOF WAS THERE FOR ALL TO SEE ON THAT HISTORIC DAY

KAFAAKA BI’ILMI FIL ‘UMMIYI M’UJADHATAN FEELJAAHILIYATI WAT T’ADIYBI FIL YUTUMI

THE MIRACLE OF THE FAITH WAS THERE FOR EVERYONE TO

SEE IN THE BRUTE SAVAGERY OF THE FOE AND HIS ORPHANED

NOBILITY




102

Section 9 – The Poet’s Petition

In a HADITH QUDSI Allah says:

‘I Am Ar-Rahman. I created the RAHAM (the mother’s womb) and derived a name for it from My Name. Hence, whoever keeps ties (connection) with it, I will keep ties (connection) with him, and whoever severs (connection with) them, I too will sever (ties/connection) with him.’

To have compassion means to feel another’s pain as if it were your own. When one’s ‘oneness’ extends to another’s ‘otherness’, and the line between the one and the other becomes blurred, then there is compassion, and in it is the Presence of God.

Mothers cannot help but feel compassion for their children; more so, perhaps, because in the bearing and giving birth is so much pain and so much of the mother’s being is invested in that child that he or she becomes an extension of her. Perhaps childbirth is made painful precisely for that reason, so that the mother will protect a helpless child with her own life.

Compassion is a gift from God. Mercy is the preferred Name of God and is the expression of true, unconditional love, and true love is forgiving, full of tenderness, caring and taking pleasure in the happiness of the object of love. Such is Allah’s Mercy towards His creatures and creation and such was the nature of the mercy Allah sent in the garb of Muhammad (PBUH).

Quran 21:107 And We sent you not, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.


103

So the Prophet’s (PBUH) nature is loving, and reflects God’s nature: Loving, Forgiving, Compassionate, Merciful.

Such was and is the Prophet’s (PBUH) compassion for his Ummah, (his community of believers and followers). This is because anyone who accepts his Message connects with the Word of which he is bearer, and such a person becomes spiritually alive and a child of the Prophet (PBUH).

But all creatures and creation is seen as the reflection and reminder of the Beloved, so his compassion and concern could never be narrow, limited or exclusive. He grieved for all who could not or would not see the truth that he tried to convey, to the point that His Lord admonished him. And so this embodiment of true love couldn’t be narrow and selective in his regard of the world. His compassion was all-embracing and extended as much to trees and stones as to humans and animals, because in everything he saw the handiwork of Allah, the Face of His Beloved.

Thus, the appellant is convinced and comforted that he will lower his wing to all those who approach him in distress, much as a mother would.


104

KHADAMTUHU BIMADIYHIN ‘ASTAQIYLU BIHI DHUNOOBA ‘UMRIN MADdAA FISH.SH’IRI WAL

KHIDAMI

IN HIS SERVICE I VENT THIS PRAISE THAT MIGHT HIS ATTENTION GAIN

AND ATONEMENT FOR A LIFETIME OF WRONGS BY POETRY ATTAIN

IDHQALLA DAANIYA MAA.TUKHSHAA ‘AWAA QIBUHU KA.AN.NANIY BIHIMAA HADYUN MINAN NA’AMI

THE TWAIN ENTWINED ADORN, BUT MAY YET PAIN ME DEAR LIKE GARLANDS ON A LAMB, MADE READY FOR SACRIFICE

NEAR




105

‘ATA’ATU GHAYYAS SIBAA FIYL HAALATAYNI WAMAA

HASwALTU ‘ILLA ‘ALAL ‘AATHAAMI WAN.NADAMI

I STOOPED TO YOUTHFUL FOLLY AND SUCCUMBED TO ADVENTURES VAIN

NO MORE THAN SIN GRIEF AND REMOURSE ULTIMATELY TO GAIN

FAYAA KHASAARATA NAFSIN FIY TIJAARATIHAA LAM TASHTARID DIYNA BIDDUNYA WALAM

TASUMI

O, HOW DID I HOPE AT ALL A GOODLY PROFIT TO MAKE THAT THIS WORLD’S GLOSS TO ENJOY DID ETERNITY’S BLISS

FORSAKE




106

WAMAN YABI’ AAJILAN MINHU BI’AAJILIHI YABINLAHUL GHABNU FIY BAY’INW WAFIY

SALAMI

HE WHO ACCEDES TO PROFIT NOW AT ETERNAL GAIN’S COST

HAS MADE NO GAIN AT ALL, BUT IMMEASURABLY MUCH HAS LOST

‘IN AATI DHANBAN FAMA AHDIY BIMUNTAQIDdIN MINANNABIYYI WALAA HABLIY BIMUNSwARIMI

BUT THOUGH I’VE DEEPLY WRONGED MYSELF, YET I KNOW

MY SOUL IS SAVED FOR SAFE’S THE KNOT WITH RASULALLAH, THE PATH AHEAD

IS PAVED




107

FA ‘INNALIY DHIMMATAN MINHU BITASMIYATI MUHAMMADANW WAHWA ‘AWFIYL KHALQI

BIDH.DHIMAMI

FOR BY MY NAME I KNOW THAT I AM SAFE AND WELL SECURE

“MUHAMMAD” ‘TIS WHOSE PROMISE IS INVARIABLY TRUE AND SURE

INLAMYAKUN FIY MA’AADIY AAKHIDHAN BIYADIY

FADLAN WA’ILLAA FAQUL YADHALLATAL QADAMI

THAT HE SHOULD NOT ON JUDGEMENT DAY TAKE ME FIRMLY BY THE HAND!

AND GENEROUSLY UPHOLD ME AND MAKE FIRM MY STAND….




108

HAASHAAHU ‘AN YUHRIMAR RAAJIY MAKAARIMAHU AW YARJI’AL JAARU MINHU GHAYRA MUHTARAMI

HEAVEN FORBID! THAT I FORFEIT THE BOON OF HIS HOLY

GRACE THAT THOUGH I HIS INTERCESSION SEEK, BE TURNED AWAY

IN DISGRACE

WAMUNDHU ALDHAMTU ‘AFKAARI MADA’IHAHU WAJAD.TUHU LIKHALAASIY KHAIRA MULTADHIMI

AND SO I VEST MY ALL AND IN PRAISE OF HIM APPLY MY

MIND AND REST MY HOPE IN HIM AT LAST THAT I MIGHT

REDEMPTION FIND




109

WALAN YAFUTAL GhINAA MINHU YADAN TARIBAT

INNAL HAYAA YUNBITUL ‘ADH.HAARA FIYL ’AKAMI

MY SOILED HANDS, I TRUST, HE’LL FILL TILL THEY’RE FULL

AND OVERFLOW, FOR RAIN WILL, EVEN IN SAND AND ROCK, MAKE FLOWERS

BLOOM AND GROW

MAASAAMANID.DAHRU Dw.AYMANW WASTAJARTU BIHI

‘ILLA WANILTU JIWAARANm MINHU LAMYUDwAMI

IN TRIAL AND IN TRIBULATION, ALWAYS, HIM ALONE I CHOOSE

FOR UNFAILING HE COMES TO MY AID, AND THAT I’D NEVER ABUSE



110

WALALTAMASTU GhINAD DAARAYNI MINYADIHI ILASTALAMTUN NADAA MIN KHAYRI MUSTALAMI

I ASKED HIM NOT THAT HE MIGHT THE DUAL FELICITY

DISPENSE BUT GOT FROM HIM THE BEST HAND KISS’D, A GIFT THAT IS

IMMENSE

WALAM ‘URID DHAHRATAD.DUNYAL LATIY UKTATwAFAT

YADAADHU HAYRINm BIMAA ATHNAA ‘ALAA HARAMI

I SEEK NOT BY THIS VERSE TO WIN, OR THIS WORLD’S

WEALTH TO GAIN IN THE MANNER THAT DID ZUHAIR BY PRAISE OF HARAM

OBTAIN.



111

Section 10: The calling of blessings and benedictions

In drought everything shrinks and struggles to grow or sustain life. It becomes a distorted, gnarled and warped image of its former self.

Mercy is the rain we cannot see. A sure sign that we have deprived ourselves of God’s Mercy and that it is withheld form us, is that all sense of right and wrong, of remorse and regret, of justice, tolerance and compassion is lost, and the heart is ‘deadened’ and made callous and insensitive, such that we even lose the sense to ask for mercy from God,

When this happens, the world descends into conflict, or “Fitna”. There is widespread affliction. It is a time when there is nowhere to turn but to God. Perhaps it is because we are turned away from Him that Fitna comes, so that we might turn to Him. Perhaps we have to reach this point to be jolted into wakefulness and contrition, so that we might resume our quest to grapple with the deaamons within ourselves that deviate us from our mission to earn our humanity.

To despair is also to fail and to succumb to doubt and unbelief. It is to forget and deny to ourselves Allah’s Mercy which is infinite and ever returning, ever available. So we owe it to ourselves to submit our fate to the Lord of the Worlds, knowing that he is Ever Merciful, Ever Compassionate and Relenting.

In Him we place our trust and hope. We invoke His intercession and mercy, and the Qasida Burda, the Cloak of Mercy, is a means of doing so. May it join in the cries and prayers of the distressed, oppressed and afflicted who plead for and evoke God’s Grace and Aid, and may those prayers return the world to peace, harmony and sanity.


112

YAA AKRAMAL KHALQI MAALIY MAN ‘ALUWDHUBIHI

SIWAAKA ‘INDA HULUWLI AL HAADITHAL ’AMAMI

O GENEROUS, RELENTING ONE! NONE’S THERE TO HEAR MY PLEA

IN THIS MY HOUR OF DIRE DISTRESS AND MOUNTING CALAMITY

WALAN YADdIYQA RASUWLAALLAHI JAAHUKA BIY IDHAL KAREEMU TAJALLA BISMI MUNTAQAMI

O RASOOL’ALLAH, OF LOSS FOR YOU THERE WILL BE NO

WHIT ON JUDGMENT DAY WHEN THE GENEROUS ONE IN

JUDGMENT WILL SIT




113

FAINNA MIN JUWDIKAD DUNYA WADdARRATAHA WAMIN ‘ULUWMIKA ‘ILMUL.LAWHI WALQLAMI

‘TIS SURE, YOUR WISDOM SPANS WHAT’S NOW AND WHAT

IS YET TO COME AND YOU KNOW WELL WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE LOHI

KALAM

YAA NAFSU LA TAQNATIY MINDHALLATIN ‘AZUMAT

‘INNALKABAA’IRA FIYLGhUFRAANI KALLAMAMI

O SOUL MINE! DESPAIR NOT THE MYRIAD DARK DEEDS DONE

NO SIN”S TOO GREAT BUT WILL DESERVE THE PARDON OF THE MERCIFUL ONE




114

LA’ALLA RAHMATA RABBIY HEENA YAQSIMUHA TA’TIY ‘ALA HASABIL ‘ISwYAANI FIYL QISAMI

FOR WHEN THE MERCIFUL LORD SHALL MOVE HIS MERCY

TO IMPART, ‘TWILL BE IN MEASURE FULL TO FILL THE WHOLE AND EVERY

PART

YAA RABBI WAJ’AL RAJAA’IY GhAYRA MUN’AKISIN

LADAYKA WAJ’AL HISAABIY GhAYRA MUNKHARIMI

O LORD, FULFILL MY HOPES, LET THEM NOT BARREN

REMAIN LET NOT MY LIFE ON JUDGEMENT DAY BE RENDERED

WORTHLESS, VAIN




115

WALTUF BI’ABDIKA FIYD DAARAINI ‘INNA LAHU SABRAN MATAA TAD’UHUL ‘AHWAALU YANHADHIMI

AND BE GENTLE TO THIS SERVANT YOURS IN THESE WORLDS THE TWAIN

FOR HE’S TOO WEAK OF METTLE TO BEAR SUFFERING AND PAIN

WA’ DHAN LISUHBI SwALAATINM MINKA DAA’IMATAN

ALAN NABIYYI BIMUN HALLINw WAMUN SAJIMI

AND UPON YOUR NABI LET CLOUD LOADS OF BLESSINGS FREELY POUR

BLESSINGS GENEROUS FULL IN MEASURE, AND INFINITELY MORE




116

THUMMAR RIDAA ‘AN ‘ABIBAKRINW WA ‘AN ‘UMARIN

WA ‘AN ‘ALIYYANW WA ‘AN UTHMAANA DHIYL KARAMI

MUCH WITH ABUBAKR AND UMAR PLEASED MAY YOU BE

AND WITH ALI AND UTHMAN AS WELL, THE PEOPLE OF NOBILITY

ح ب ثم التابعین فھـم واآلل والص أھل التق ـرم ى والنقى والحلم والك

WA ‘AALI WAS.SwAHBI THUMMAT.TABI’IYNA

FAHUM AHLUT TAQAA WAN NAQAA WALHILMI WALKARAMI

AND ‘PON HIS PROGENY, COMPANIONS AND DEVOTEES

WITHAL THE ASSEMBLIES OF THE PIOUS, SAGE, GENTLE AND

GENEROUS ALL



117

MA RANNAHAT ADHBAATIL.BANI RIYHU SwABAN WA ATwRABAL ‘IYSA HAADIYL’IYSI

BIN.NAGgAMI

AND WHILE BREEZES STIR THE LEAVES OF THE CYPRESS AND MAKE THEM RUSTLE

AND CAMEL DRIVERS THEIR CAMELS EXOTIC CHANTS HUSTLE

YAA RABBI BIL MUSTwAFAA BALLIGH MAQAASIDANA

WAGHFIRLANA MAA MADwAA YAA WAASI’AL KARAMI

FOR SAKE OF MUSTAFA, O LORD, APPROVE OUR HUMBLE

PRAISE AND FORGIVE US, O FORBEARING ONE, OUR WAYWARD

WAYS




118

FAGHFIR LINAASHIDIHA WAGHFIR LIQARI’IHAA SA.ALTUKAL KHAYRA YAA DHALJUWDI WALKARAMI

FORGIVE THE ONE WHO WROTE OR RECITES THIS HUMBLE

PIECE RECEIVE THEM ALL, O GENEROUS ONE, INTO SAFETY AND

EASE

AMEEN

QASIDA BURDA REV031118V2 - Bashir Sacranie

Documents