The Appearance of the Essence of the One-ness of God

Continued from Part II of The Upside of Humiliation: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52273833091/in/datepos...

 

...As my attention upon the words in the namaz intensified, I began to wonder that was actually being said by me in the part called the Tashahhud.

 

التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ،

 

The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to God Almighty,

“All kinds of greetings, prayers and goodness belong to Allah.”

 

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ،

 

Upon this greeting, God Almighty said to His Prophet (peace be upon you and your family),

“Peace, the Mercy of Allah and His Blessings be on you, O Prophet (peace be upon you and your family).”

 

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ

 

Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said,

“Peace be upon us and the Saliheen servants of Allah.”

 

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُه

 

Gibrael (as) witnessed this exchange at Sidrat ul Muntaha when Allah ordered him

to be a witness by saying,

“I bear witness there is no God but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger.

 

I called Qari Sahib even though he was on his Hajj. I wanted to say something about this part in my last lecture to the kids. But I didn’t know what it meant. I knew it was important because it was the dialogue at the Night on Ascension. I wanted to know what the first words spoken by Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) were to His Lord were when they were face to face. What did they mean?

 

Qari Sahib told me this: “This is where Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) is presenting his gift to his Rabb. As do we when we go to see someone for the first time. Nabi Pak (peace be upon him and his family) has already seen Allah Subhanahu in the Alim e Lahoot, the Realm of the Divine Light, but this is the first time he is going as the perfect man, as a human being from this world, the Nasoot.

 

The first word he speaks, Attahayaatu, it means that all my worship in words by my tongue are for you my Lord. So that includes our recitation of the Quran, namaz, tasbeeh, speaking the truth etc. Wa salaawatu, the second offering, is of worship offered in the form of deeds. This requires physicality. So he is saying, All of my deeds are for you O Lord!” The third present is tayyabaatu. That is “My worship in giving of my possessions, everything is for you, my Lord.”

 

Qari Sahib’s words from thousands of miles away brought me to a snail’s pace when I came upon those words. No wonder Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) only did each single thing with the utmost beauty and perfection, so that each time Allah Subhanahu cast His Love upon them so they were enveloped by it. They only did an action as was worthy of the action.

 

That was why when Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) worshipped God, Allah took oaths upon the excellence of that manner of worship and not just once in the Quran, by saying “Fa Wa Rabba-ka, “I take an oath by thy Sustainer, O Beloved (peace be upon you and your family).” Not an oath on Himself or King the Universe but Your Sustainer, Your Lord, Your Rabb!

 

Qari Sahib even pointed me to another verse, of many expressing honor for Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) in the Quran. It was a major find for me for it was line I uttered in my prayers in every ruku’ of every raka’t.

 

‏فَسَبِّحْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ

 

So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most Great.

Surah Waqia’, Verse 74

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And overall:

 

Fasibbih: And praise, O Messenger who perfects the Messengers (peace be upon him and his family)…

 

Bi ismi Rabbika Al Adeem: the Name of your Lord, The Most Exalted, who is The Most Honorable and The Most Majestic, free from everything which may be called defective or hovers over it, Allah Subhanahu’s Orbit of Majesty, anything which is erroneous or has a shortcoming.

 

All of his deeds was rendered in perfection so Allah Subhanahu said Himself:

 

‏وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍۢ ‎

 

Indeed, surely, you are of an excellent moral character.

Surah Al Qalam, Verse 4

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa Innaka: And indeed, you, the one whose manner is the perfection of the Attributes of Allah Subhanahu, takhalluqe-ka bil akhlaq Allah and your being is in a state of conviction in the Station of Friendship and Vice-regency…

 

La’ala khuluq-in adeem: you are of an excellent moral character. No one’s excellence of character is more superb than your character because you hold and have gathered the characters of the ones before you and the ones after you as per the totality of your rank.

 

I was forced to consider my own offering of words, deeds and material possessions. Most often than not they left me tinged with regret. It was almost always because my tongue wasn’t as soft as it should have been. Leaving my qalb, the station of ma’rifat, veiled, despite “its natural propensity towards it” because I denied it that connection. It was shackled by my nafs to react and respond in certain ways.

 

Then I was constantly missing out on deeds that stood before me as I passed them by. My giving could always be more than it was. Although knowing that it went straight into the hand of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) had certainly changed it. The verse had become one of my absolute favourites.

 

Every time I quoted the tafseer, I don’t know what impact it had on the other person but it certainly blew me away. I think the words that drew me into it was who it was that was doing this giving. I was front and center among them: the sinners, the regretful, the repentant!

 

But it was what his prayer in return held for the one giving that held the magic; sakana, tranquility.

 

خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَلِهِمْ صَدَقَةًۭ تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ

إِنَّ صَلَوٰتَكَ سَكَنٌۭ لَّهُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

 

Take from their wealth a charity, purifying them and cause them increase in it and bless them.

Indeed, your prayers are a comfort for them.

And Allah is The Hearer of All, The Knower of Everything.

Surah Tauba, Verse 103

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Khud: Accept, O Messenger who completes Messenger-hood (peace be upon you)…

 

Min amwalihim: from their possessions of those who are Al Mudnibeen, sinners and Al Tai’been, the repenters and Al Nadimeen the ones who are regretful, of that which has happened from them because of their going against you, when they asked for your permission that you leave this matter…

 

Sadqatan tuttahirruhum: (Accept) alms so you purify them from the filth of their nature that they are crazy about, which is love of possessions and the greed of gathering them and increasing them…

 

Wa tuzzakihim biha: by which you cleanse their batin, inner beings, from distractions that hinder them from the taste of spirituality…

 

Wa salle alaihim: and pray for them and ask for their maghfirat, forgiveness for their sins, and pray for them the prayer of all goodness.

 

Inna salaataka: Indeed your prayer and your caring for their states…

 

Sakana al lahum: brings

1.inner peace for their hearts

2.and dignity

3.and calmness

4.and the means of their being steadfast

5.and firmly footed in the Realm of Allah’s Tauheed, His One-ness and Imaan, faith.

 

Wallahu: And Allah, Al Muraqib, The One who watches over them in all their states is…

 

Samee-un: All Hearing of their sincerity and their secret conversations with him…

 

Aleem-un: All Knowing of their intentions and their needs.

 

Still, even in the days my ghaflat left me forgetting everything as it happened, I would ultimately express my regret before my Nabi (peace be upon him and his family) so I could be acquitted solely through it. As was promised in the Quran. Even though I had translated the verse word by word, I kept thinking of it incorrectly. For some reason, I had assumed that Allah Subhanahu had said, when they transgress upon their own selves, they should first ask Allah for forgiveness, THEN come to you, O Beloved (peace be upon you).

 

But He wasn’t saying that.

 

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآءُوكَ فَٱسْتَغْفَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ

وَٱسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ تَوَّابًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا

 

And if they, when they wronged themselves, come to you and asked forgiveness of Allah,

and the Messenger (peace be upon him) asked forgiveness for them,

surely, they would have found Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surah An-Nisa’, Verse 64

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa lau annahum: And if they, without doubt, due to the intensity of their ghaflat, ignorance and hypocrisy…

 

Id zalamu anfusahum: that which befalls you of affliction, (which is) harmful, not submitting to you… that which befalls you of affliction, (which is) harmful, not submitting to you…

 

Jaa’uka: they must come to you as the ones who repent, the one who are apologetic because of that which happened from them…

 

Fastaghfarullah: then they ask for forgiveness from Allah (being) sincere and regretful…

 

Wastaghfara lahum Ar Rasoolu: and The Messenger (peace be upon him) also asks for forgiveness for them through intercession and praying before Allah, asking for the acceptance (of the person by Him) after they have come as the ones who are apologetic…

 

Lawajadullaha: surely, they will find Allah (to be) and they will testify to Him being the One who grants Bounty and Mercy…

 

Tawwaban: (and find Allah to be) The One who accepts their repentance…

 

Raheeman: The One who is Merciful to them and grants them ability to do this (go the The Messenger (peace be upon him).

The starting point for the nafs to gain a guaranteed forgiveness before God was an appearance before His Beloved (peace be upon him and his family).

 

As the 10th of Muharram approached and I heard lecture upon lecture on the Shuhuda e Karbala, I came upon a narration that unveiled how, in this world, the knowing of that sacrifice was brought in to the consciousness of the blessed Imam (as) as a toddler. Not when his father, Maula e Kayinaat (as), most reluctantly, was the Khalifa. It was not when his elder brother, Imam Hassan (as) declined it entirely. It was not when Yazid took over and declared himself to be the spiritual leader of the Caliphate and demanded his submission. It was when he was a child of three.

 

When the incident was brought to the ears of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) by the angel Gibrael (as), Imam Hussain (as) was with him.

 

The little boy came running to his mother and said, “This is what my grandfather is saying is going to happen to me. I will be killed in a field without having any water and food for days. I will be killed by those who follow him and say his name in their prayers and send blessings upon us. Everyone with me will be killed before me, except the women. And then I too will be killed.”

 

His mother Bibi Fatima Az Zahra (as) quietly said, “If he is saying it, then that is what will happen.”

 

“Will you be there,” he asked her.

 

“No,” she replied.

 

“Will my father?”

 

“No,” she replied.

 

“Will my brother?”

 

“No,” she replied.

 

“Then who will cry for me?” he asked.

 

Hazrat Bibi Fatima (as) softly wept. “There will be a group of people who will mourn your death forever and express their sadness with tears will the Day of Judgement comes.”

 

“So what will you give them?” the child asked. “For crying for me without knowing me. What will you give them?”

 

Bibi (as) kept crying and said, “Your grandfather says that Heaven belongs to me. So on that Day when accounts will be taken and dwelling for an eternity determined, I will let my hair down and sit at the gates of Heaven and say to my Lord, ‘I will not enter it until every single person whose eyes spilled a single tear for Hussain enters Heaven before me.’”

 

The layering of this incident between the mother and child became etched in my memory. We don’t tell our children anything, I thought, thinking they will be traumatized. Imam Hussain (as) knew as a child what he would experience and awaited it. He didn’t fear it or feel sad about it. He didn’t pray for it to not happen.

 

Bibi Fatima (as) was the woman, who when a single strand of her hair appeared on her forehead out of her veil by accident, the angel Gibrael (as) descended and said to her father (peace be upon him and his family), Allah Subhanahu tells Fatima (as) to cover her hair. That woman who was preserved by Allah Himself would sit unveiled to finally ask her Lord for something, which wasn’t even going to be for herself.

 

These are the devout Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani (ra) describes in his book Sirr al Asraar, (The Secret of the Secrets), as the extraordinary ones:

 

“Those who are close to Allah devote the spiritual rewards of their good deeds to sinners. God most High manifests His Mercy, pardoning sinners in proportion to the prayers, the praises, the fasts, the alms and the pilgrimages of His servants who intend to sacrifice the spiritual rewards they may hope for as a result of their worship and devotions. Allah in his Mercy covers and hides the sins of sinners as a reward of the devotion of His Good Servants.”

 

Then the notion that came from Nabi Pak (peace be upon him and his family) himself; those who believed without seeing him would receive a reward, a recompense unmatched, beyond imagination. A single tear shed for Imam Hussain (as) brought its own treasure; the intercession of Khatoon e Jannat, the Lady to whom Heaven belonged (as).

 

I came to understand that the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (as) was not in fact a sacrifice offered to Allah Subhanahu by his mother, Bibi Fatima (as) or his father, Maula e Kayinaat, Imam Ali (as). The origin, mubda’, of the sacrifice was Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him). It was to him that the revelation was sent that the event would happen. It was he who witnessed it in the future. It was his willful surrender to His Lord’s Pleasure that came first.

 

And then even after Imam Hussain’s (as) martyrdom that brought the redness to the sky at sunset for the first time, the sacrifices continued. By his sister, Bibi Zainab (as) who endured the unspeakable, his son Hazrat Zain ul Abideen who grief poured from his eyes every second of every single day that he lived. All the Imams after him were first imprisoned then poisoned, one by one, by the Muslim rulers of the time.

 

Each presented himself to everything in life and death in willing surrender.

 

People are often confused with the Imam’s (as) mourning, not knowing how to make sense of it in the context of the verse: “there is no fear upon them nor do they feel grief.”

 

Qari Sahib explained it to me like this:

 

“Grief is exactly what he feels throughout his life but that grief is not a result of loss of possessions which is what causes it for us. It is not from the ‘effects of the tabyat.’ It is simply an expression of the mercy one’s heart feels only from Allah Subhanahu and its manifestation is always secondary to His Pleasure.”

 

The he directed me to the incident of the passing of Nabi Kareem’s (peace be upon him and his family) child, Ibrahim which we had translated in The Softest Heart.

 

As narrated by Hazrat Anas Bin Malik (ratu):

 

We entered with the Prophet of God (peace be upon him) the house of Abi Saif whose wife had breastfed (his son), Ibrahim, the Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) son. He took him to Ibrahim and the Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his family) kissed him and smelt him. Then we went to him and Ibrahim was taking his last breaths and the eyes of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) were flowing with tears.

 

Harzat Abdur Rahman (ratu) said to him, “You (are crying), Ya Rasool Allah (peace be upon you and your family)?

 

He said, "O Ibn e Auf, This is mercy” and he started crying again.

 

Then he said, “Verily the eyes send their tears and the heart is saddened, but we do not say anything except that which pleases our Lord. Indeed, O Ibrahim, we are bereaved by your departure from us."

 

Indeed, they were in a category that was made exclusive like no other by Allah because it was He who purified them Himself!

 

إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ ٱلرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًۭا

 

Indeed, Allah wishes to remove from you the impurity, O People of the House (peace be upon you all)!

And to purify you (with thorough) purification.

Surah al Ahzab, Verse 33

 

Innama yureedullahu: Indeed Allah Al Musleh, The Reformer of the states of His Worshipper, wishes for those who are chosen by Him, teaching them such advice and reminders which enter the heart and giving them warnings strange, unlike any other…

 

Liyudhiba ankum ar-rijsa: removing impurities from you, unattractive, loathsome by both the mind and by Jurisprudence (which can be in contradiction to one another), O…

 

Ahl e Bait: the people of the house of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), Al Majbooleen, who are raised upon honour and nobility..

 

Wa yutahhirakum: (and it is also His Will) to make you absolutely pure from the dirt of one’s nature and things that are hateful imperfections that exist from the beginning (from birth like the Shaitan attached to each person), and which are hurdles in the cleansing of personal nature (like menstruation or emissions)…

 

Tat-hirah: (to make you absolutely pure) in absolute purity.

Such purity that nothing remains in you, any doubt of disfigurement and the disgrace of any shortcoming.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) adds: “Allah uses the verb for male plural in the middle of the verse, even though the verb before and after addresses only the female plural (kunna), because Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) and Maula Ali (as) and his sons, Imam Hassan and Hussain (as) are a part of those addressed in it so the verb changes. And it includes Hazrat Bibi Fatima (as) and the wives of the household of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).”

 

In the hardship for the nafs lies also its ease. No fear, no sadness were the overt stated rewards. The hidden ones from Allah An Nafi, The Benefiting One, appeared throughout life. When my mother died, my career derailed and never got back on track again. Instead I discovered I could write. That writing today becomes my meditation.

 

My nature, from being in a boarding school, was shaped by Allah Al Musawwir, The Flawless Shaper, so as to not feel loneliness. The thing I slowly killing people around me throughout each day whilst being surrounded by people. Perhaps that’s why when I utter the words of Surah Ikhlas in my sala’t, my voice stays on the first and last Name that Allah Subhanahu uses to tell His Beloved (peace be upon him and his family) to describe Himself – The Sole One, The One who was, is and will forever remain alone.

 

“Say to them, Allah is One…

 

Ahad.”

 

And then again..

 

“Kufuwan Ahad.”

 

There are only two extensions of the truth, haqq, say the scholars in the know; Khair, goodness and husn, beauty. And the maada, the marrow, of the word insaan, the human being is to be either manoos, the one who loves or naseeya, the one who forgets.

 

In one of his lectures Sheikh Nurjan (ra) expounds on the latter point beautifully. He says that every interaction in life holds within only one of two possibilities; humility or humiliation. For the mindful person, who Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) calls the Mo’min, one evokes gratitude, the other patience.

 

عن صهيب قال رسولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم:

عَجَبًا لأمرِ المؤمنِ إِنَّ أمْرَه كُلَّهُ لهُ خَيرٌ

وليسَ ذلكَ لأحَدٍ إلا للمُؤْمنِ

إِنْ أصَابتهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فكانتْ خَيرًا لهُ

وإنْ أصَابتهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبرَ فكانتْ خَيرًا لهُ

 

Said the Prophet of God (peace be upon him), “Amazing is the state of the Believer (Mo’min). In all his matters is goodness and this is for no one except the Believer. If happiness reaches him, he expresses gratitude so that is good for him. And if comes to him adversity, he is patient so that is good for him.”

 

Sheikh Nurjan (ra): “When people walk safely upon the Earth, they say ‘I don’t remember feeling that type of fear.’ And they go about their life as if a situation that happened had never occurred. And the Station of Sincerity is for those people that never forget. They forgive but they never forget.

 

Human nature is to be forgetful. People do something bad, the next day they forget. And by means of that forgetting, they try to continue with their lives in their state of heedlessness, forgetfulness.

 

Forgetting, forgetting, forgetting. Saying, ‘I won’t backbite.’ Then they backbite…So the nature of humanity is to be forgetful. Sincerity is when Allah opens within their soul so that don’t forget and don’t enter into a state of forgetfulness because becoming heedless and the state of heedlessness is a danger and catastrophe.

 

So sincerity is what opens the reality of their souls. Then they don’t forget what they did and they don’t forget what they promised and their life is trying to accomplish and ask for and repent for all that they’ve done and all that they do. And they live a life of maghfira, asking for forgiveness and tauba, repentance.”

 

The Sheikh unveiled a secret. The opposite of ghaflat, heedlessness, was ikhlas, sincerity.

 

“And the sincere, Allah Azzo Jal opens within their heart the ability to forgive. It’s one thing to forget. Someone might do something to you, then the next day they do the same thing to you and you continue on with the difficulty because you forget. But sincerity opens for them to know all the wrongs that people have done. And it is what Allah Azzo Jal has written for their lives to be tested. So as a result they forgive.

 

For one to be raised, one needs to be sacrificed. So if this life of ours is just two people, one is sacrificed and one is raised. Both can’t be raised otherwise he would have kept you in Paradise. By means of that sacrifice, a bad action, something wrong done by the other, the one being raised will be reach the station that Allah Azzo Jal wanted to grant to the servant. So when something bad is done to you, something angers you, (know that) Allah wanted to raise you.

 

He’s teaching that I wanted to give you a station when this test came to you. You’re praying for it. You’re praying for this station…So when someone is yelling at you and attacking you, think inside, ‘I’m being raised.’ Not that you beat that person (back). Because the one who came to do that to you is the one who is being sacrificed.”

 

In the test lay hidden the ease!

 

It is patience which allows for forgiveness in the first moment of any infraction, exactly as Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) instructed. I found it is in that order that the words appeared in the Quran, sabara wa ghfara. Patience precedes forgiveness:

 

‏وَلَمَن صَبَرَ وَغَفَرَ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ ٱلْأُمُورِ ‎

 

And whoever is patient and forgives, indeed, that is surely of matters of real resolve.

Surah Al Shu’ara, Verse 63

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa laman sabara: And the one who adopts patience, those who are from amongst the Madlomeen, who have been wronged and oppressed with unfair treatment, and he did not ask for help and he did not seek revenge from his oppressor, suppressing his anger and bearing it (the maltreatment)..,

 

Wa ghafara: and forgives and lets go, returning his attention to Allah, desirous of reward only from Him, Subhanahu.

 

Inna dalika: Indeed that (act) of forgiveness and letting go, despite having the power to do otherwise…

 

La min azmir umoor: is of the affairs which are preferred by those who have determination and correct resolve, who are especially favoured by Allah, and they are the ones who see by the Grace of God everything they experience as a gift or as a tribulation, and they keep their nafs, the self, contented upon Allah’s Pleasure no matter what comes upon them from His Decision.

 

Perhaps that’s why patience was what created the other exception from khusr - state of loss, immense and humiliating failure, as the verse from Al Asr continued:

 

وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ

 

… and enjoin (each other) to the truth and enjoin (each other) to patience.

Surah Al Asr, Verse 3

 

Wa: And in this condition…

 

Tawasau bil Haq: they enjoin each other towards the Path of God and His One-ness…

 

Wa tawasau: and they also enjoin each other…

 

Bis sabr: 1. towards patience for the practice of matters that require obedience

2. and (patience towards) their tiredness from striving hard

3. and (patience towards) from what they suffer as a result of cutting themselves off from their love of the world

4. and (patience towards) leaving their animalistic desires which are attached to human nature.

 

Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) forgave everyone everything. That is what he then commanded us to do. Every time I was disobedient to that order, I brought pain upon myself. Definitely distress. Every time I obeyed it, I felt peace. The verse 64 from Surah An Nisa became my mantra.

 

Through my blessed Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) teaching, I learnt to invoke it immediately after a transgression instead of festering in my misery for hours or days. I knew the forgiveness came instantly because however badly felt before, I felt totally calm after.

 

The words of the lecture echoed in my mind:

 

“Ma’roof is that which my fitrat knows and recognizes as good and munkir is that which my iftrat knows is sinful and wrong. So the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) sent does not command anything that the fitrat dislikes and only commands that which it already knows as good.”

 

For the one who was the perfect manifestation in his manner of Allah’s Attributes was only showing in his own practice what was Allah’s Way in His; merciful.

 

وَرَحْمَتِى وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍۢ ۚ

 

My Mercy encompasses everything

Surah Al Araaf, Verse

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa rahmati wasi’at kulli shayan: My Mercy encompasses every single thing from the Al Muta’een, the obedient ones and the Al A’sieen, the sinners and others from them.

When we translated the words, the sinners, Qari Sahib was reminded of a story!

 

“Once Hazrat Musa (as) asked Allah Subhanahu, “in which way do you respond to your Servants?”

 

Allah Ta’ala said, “If they are doers of good deeds, I say Labaik – I am here. If they are wrongdoers, I say it thrice. Labaik, Labaik, Labaik!”

 

Hazrat Musa (as) was surprised.

 

“Thrice for the sinner and only once for the obedient?”

 

Allah Subhanahu responded, “Musa, My Servant who tries to do good deeds, they have hope that those deeds will count for something before Me. But the sinner, who has no deeds to offer, they only and only count on my Mercy.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

When I told Qari Sahib the only person I might choose in a new life was my mother, he said knowingly.

 

“It’s because you never found sincerity in any other relationship in this world.”

 

But the “enemy” is also the mirror who makes appear one’s own self in the clearest reflection. That and a true friend! Which is why Maula e Kayinaat (as) says, “A friend is better than all the treasures in the world.”

 

Pain is acknowledged as the impetus for the most momentum in a spiritual journey. The Path of Qurb, Closeness, is paved with humiliation. Not just closeness to Allah Subhanahu but all human beings as well. The upside is that the Path itself, for those who surrender willingly to Allah’s Will and try to submit to His Beloved (peace be upon him and his family) tread each step of it, clinging on to The Rope of His Names, cradling the hope that the Quran captures in a single line most perfectly:

 

‏وَلَلْءَاخِرَةُ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكَ مِنَ ٱلْأُولَىٰ ‎

 

For indeed, the life to come will be better for you than this earlier part (of your life)

Surah Ad Duha, Verse 4

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa lil akhiratu: And the life which is yours to come in the Lahoot, Realm of Noor, Divine Light…

 

Khair ul laka: is better and more suitable and befitting for your state…

 

Min: than your life …

 

Al ula: earlier, which is your life in this world of the Nasoot, the physical existence.

 

“And how can it not be, the Afterlife better for you than the world, when it is everlasting in the Permanence of Allah Subhanahu, eternal due to His Eternity. While this world is an appearance of falsehood, perishing everything which is in it because of its perishable nature and its belongings and the things which are taken from it.”

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) says we are the shadows of Allah again and again in his tafseer of the Quran.

 

‎ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ ٱلْوَرِيدِ

 

and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.

Surah Qaf, Verse 16

 

Nahnu aqrab ilayhi min habl al wareed: We are nearer to him than his jugular vein i.e. it is the example of the utmost closeness as said the Prophet (peace be upon him), “Death is closer to me than my jugular vein” and the mention of the jugular vein is for the purposes of illustration and overall: “We are closer to him than his own self.”

 

“And overall: We according to Our Spirit which is blown in him from the Realm of the Lahoot where matter ceases to exist, are closer to him than his Nasoot, his physical existence in the world. There is no doubt about the distance (between Us and him) yet there is no mixing in this path and there is no union and there is no dissolving and no co-joining.

 

But it is like the closeness of a shadow and a reflection and it is the highest form of Allah’s Closeness and most perfect encompassing of a human being.”

 

Then again in the verse that I utter most often in my prayers, that culturally we have locked in for death alone, he says it most explicitly and magnificently: We are shadow in a constant state of returning towards The One who created the shadows.

 

Inna: Indeed, We are a shadow…

 

Lillah: of Allah Al Wahid The One and Only, Al Ahad The Only One, Al Mutajjali, The One who reveals and unveils with His Perfect Names and His Exalted Attributes in this world…

 

Wa inna: and indeed we are, after our returning in the afterworld…

 

Ilayhi: towards Him and not towards anyone other than Him from the shadows (of association)…

 

Raji’oon: the ones returning, the ones who make the returning of the shadow towards The One who created the shadows.

 

The possibility of beautifying deed so as to be loved by one’s Creator becomes real for anyone who Nabi Pak (peace be upon him and his family) sends a prayer upon by name in the namaz; the Saliheen!

 

When I starting saying my namaz knowing that, whenever the verse emanated from my tongue, my heart expressed a gratefulness to my Nabi (peace be upon him and his family) for saying the prayer, for saying the word and creating a possibility of inclusion for me.

 

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ

 

Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

“Peace be upon us and the Saliheen.”

 

It was the only category of people in the sala’t of all the ones mentioned in the Quran: the Shakireen, the Sabireen, the Mu’qineen, the Muttaqeen and so on. It was the ask of Prophets to be counted amongst them and be connected to them.

 

تَوَفَّنِى مُسْلِمًۭا وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِٱلصَّلِحِينَ ‎

 

Cause me to die as a Muslim, and join me with the righteous."

Hazrat Yusuf, Verse 101

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then prayed Hazrat Yousuf (as) for himself and he said softly to his Lord, a prayer, that uttered from him only with wisdom, intellect and reasoning, with his invocation:

 

Tawwafini: Make me die and take my soul…

Muslim-an: surrendering, entrusting all my matters to you…

 

Walhiqni: and join me, with Your Special Favour…

 

Bi saliheen: with the righteous ones who are the ones who reformed their selves in this life and the Hereafter until they achieved success from You with the honour of meeting You.

The meaning of the word appeared: the ones who reformed themselves!

 

Then came the word in a prayer by another Prophet, Suleman (as), when he heard the ant speak what was revealed to it by God:

 

وَأَدْخِلْنِى بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِى عِبَادِكَ ٱلصَّلِحِينَ ‎

 

And admit me by Your Mercy among Your Servants Righteous."

Surah An Naml, Verse 19

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And after You cause me to die…

 

Adkhilni bi rahmatika: make me enter by Your Mercy and Your Expansive Bounty and Your Extensive Nobleness…

Fi: in the group of…

 

Ibadika as Saliheen: the ones who please You, the ones who are accepted by You and count me amongst them and raise me among their set. Indeed, You do what You want, You are Qadeer, All Powerful and You are Worthy of the hope that the hopeful place upon You.

 

“The ones who please You, the ones who are accepted by You.”

 

The word reminded me of another verse where those in a constant state of striving, which is how I had come to understand those who were perpetually in a state of reform, created for themselves the possibility of being exceptional as a human being. In the context of deed again being saleh!

 

A verse extremely well known from Surah At-Tin. Man was first created the most perfect, then stripped from that rank because of deed – “chains of desires, shackles of endless hopes.” Then allowed the possibility of re-entry through the same; deed!

 

‏لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَنَ فِىٓ أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍۢ ‎

 

And We created Man in the best mould

Surah Teen, Verse 4

 

And after Allah takes oaths all great, He says…

 

Laqad khalaqnal insaana: Indeed, We created all Mankind…

 

Fi ahsan e taqweem: in the best form and the most balanced proportions because no other Creation is created more perfectly in form than them and they are perfectly formed in terms of their zahir, overt and batin, inner being. For this reason, We chose Man for our Vice-Regency from amongst all of Our Creation.

 

‏ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَهُ أَسْفَلَ سَفِلِينَ ‎

 

Then We returned him to the lowest of the low,

Surah Teen, Verse 5

 

Summa: Then after this We willed differently, because of his wicked deeds…

 

Radadnahu: and returned him to the lowest of the low and we displaced him from that highest rank and that highest honour…

 

Asfala safeleen: to the lowest of the low and this is the set-up of the world, which causes them to to enter the valleys of fire and which is their chains of desires and which is their shackles of endless hopes.

 

‏إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّلِحَتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍۢ ‎

 

Except those who believe and do righteous deeds, then for them is a reward never ending.

Surah Teen, Verse 5

 

Illaladina amino: Except for the ones who are certain of the One-ness of God…

 

Wa amilo salihaat: and do good deeds that are deeply sincere, free from all the entrapments of the world. Deeds that will bring them close to Allah’s Essence.

 

Fa lahum: So for them, after that when they reach (again) the highest ranks towards the Alim e Lahoot, the Realm of Allah…

 

Ajrun ghairu mamnoon: are endless blessings that will never finish and nor will Allah mention His Favour ever for giving them.

 

“Wa salaawatu, the second offering, is of worship offered in the form of deeds.”

 

After my first Umra when I saw Muslims from different countries praying in the same place at the same time, I used to think that everybody’s prayer was different because of how they placed their bodily parts in each posture. Feet together, feet apart, hands at all levels of the upper body, the manner in which the hands were clasped, the angles of the prostration, everything was unique. But that was just the overt.

 

The way in which each namaz is actually different is in the words the qalb chooses and the tongue speaks. Or the other way around, I don’t know! There were Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) who just repeated the salam upon him hundreds of times. Sitting there, saying that one line over and over – As salamu alaika Ayyoha an Nabiyyo wa Rahmatullahe wa Barakatuhu - because they knew the salam was returned and they hoped one day their ears would hear the sound of that return. And they did!

 

I guess it made sense. If no two things otherwise in the Universe were alike, why would the utterance of the prayer between The Worshipped and the Worshipper be. After 51 years I was beginning to see why the one who shared every single thing he was bestowed by His Lord only for himself (peace be upon him and his family) said; “The sala’t is the Mairaj of the Mo’min.” Each could make of it what they want.

 

One of Allah’s Names is Al Adl, The Just.

 

“From the root ayn, laam, daal, which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to act justly, fairly, equitably, to adjust properly, to make even, to straighten, to rectify, to establish justice or balance. To make equal, uniform, to turn one away from something, rightly, direct, to make comfortable with what is right.”

 

I was blown away by the last possible meaning of the word: to turn one away from something, to make comfortable with what is right. The Name had come to my mind after the I translated the last verse for this piece, which I couldn’t otherwise bring myself to end. I chose the verse because of its possibility of a life without sadness and grief, not just for Allah Subhanahu’s Friends but a base human being like me!

 

‏بَلَىٰ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُۥ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌۭ فَلَهُۥٓ أَجْرُهُۥ عِندَ رَبِّهِۦ

وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ‎

 

Yes, whoever submits his face to Allah and he is a good-doer, so for him is his reward with his Lord. And no fear will come upon them and not will they grieve.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 112

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Say to them, O Akmal Ar Rasul, O Messenger who completes the Message, (peace be upon you and your family), in speech arising only from wisdom and sincerity, “There is no reason that makes Heaven exclusive for anyone amongst you or among us (the Muslims versus people of other faiths).

 

Bala: In fact the reality is that…

 

Man aslama wajhahu: the one who submitted his face and surrenders his entire self…

 

Lillahe: which is belonging to Allah in actuality…

 

Wa huwa: and he is in himself…

 

Muhsin-un: the one who is Aarif-un Mushaahid-un, the one who has Our Recognition and witnesses Our Presence…

 

Fa lahu ajruhu: so for him is a reward, his destiny and his purpose…

 

Inda: (with) a rank, near…

 

Rabbihi: his Lord, especially for him…

 

Wa la khauf-un alayhim wa la yahzanoon: and they feel no fear upon them nor do they grieve so they are above and beyond the acceptance of fear and sadness and the demands of nature and they are forever with a special rank with their Lord.

 

Sheikh Nurjan (ra) explained why the verse on forgiveness commands us to go to Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) and ask in front of him:

 

“You didn’t do anything against Allah Azzo Jal but when you realize later in life that your soul came from the Ocean of Muhammad Ar Rasool Allah (peace be upon him and his family) you understand. Every time you do something bad, it’s as if you are trying to harm the reality of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

 

You don’t harm Allah Azzo Jal because He is in La ilaha illallaha but since you are in Muhammad Ar Rasool Allah (peace be upon him and his family). Every time you do something bad, Allah Azzo Jal says, “Go to him and ask for forgiveness.”

 

For he is closer to you than your own self!

 

النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ ۖ

 

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is closer to the believers than their own selves.

 

Surah Al-Ahzab, Verse 6

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then showed Subhanahu the teaching of the manners of His Nabi (peace be upon him and his family) to all nations, he who has the full support of his Subhanahu in all kinds of aid and miracles beyond ordinary routine, who was sent towards them for their guidance and their perfection and to command them to have excellent manners with all the Prophets and be in their service and honor them forever.

 

So how will they not have the best manners with the Prophets and the Messengers (as) because every Prophet for his nation is like an affectionate and kind father for them. In fact, he, Nabi Kareem (peace be upon and his family), is the best of all these fathers, who leads them (these Prophets) towards those things that are better for them in their religions which is the actual life for them.

 

So it is compulsory for them, everyone, to be in the station of subservience and completely bent in humility and being respectful in everything, even more so than what Allah as ordered upon them (in the Quran), more than the rights of their own sons (like Hazrat Ismail (as), the sons of Hazrat Luqman (as), Hazrat Isa (as)), because the effects of the training of the Prophets are since forever and everlasting.

 

And the effects of the ancestors’ training dissipate from generation to generation. And if their training to be respectful with humility with him, Nabi Pak (peace be upon him and his family), is passed on it it will their reward for the Hereafter. So training them in this way (to be respectful to him) is in actuality the teachings of their Prophets.

 

And there is no doubt that our Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is afdal al anbiya, the most honoured of the Prophets and perfects them in nourishing and in guidance. So his being a father is also perfect and so his tenderness and his mercy for his nation, which is the best of the nations in completeness and in number.

 

That is why Allah Subhanahu says:

 

An Nabi: This is the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), the Communicator of the hidden news, the one who is fully supported and sent to all the nations to perfect the excellence of manners and the good habits, who is the completer of the knowledge of the religion and who completes the way of A Ma’rifa, Recognition of Allah, and Al Yaqeen, certainty…

 

Aula bil Mo’mineen: is closer to the believers and has more rights over them than their own selves so that they give him preference over themselves and they choose his happiness and delight…

 

Min anfusihim: over their own selves because their overt beings are a function of his tarbiyat, teachings just like it is a result of the teachings of a father, tender and caring, who safeguards his son from every useless thing. He is Al Muraqib for him, watching over him in all his states so that he connects him to the everlasting life and infinite and eternal existence.

 

In a sense I realize I too lived in a cave. Treading the path of humiliation from one end of it to another without an exit in sight. And I too became used to that darkness.

 

But I am not in love with my darkness. I yearn to shirk it. When a ray of light pierces my being, I embrace it. I follow it hoping for more rays. All light finds its way to me by way of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) and his blessed family. The Spiritual Masters, all the silsilas, are from the lineage of Imam Hassan (as) and then Ghaus Pak (ra) and all the Imams, including the one who is to come, are the blood of the Ahl e Bait who emerge from Imam Hussain (as). There has always been only one origin, one fountainhead, Allah’s Habeeb (peace be upon him and his family).

 

On the 8th of Muharram, Qari Sahib went to visit my aunt who had been unwell. When I went to see her later, she remarked, “He says, your teacher, that your parents must be wearing crowns of noor because of you.”

 

I smiled. “Because of Ghaus Pak (ra)," I said lowering my eyes. “Because we translate the Tafseer e Jilani. Yes, he said the same to me.”

 

“Your parents, they must be so happy,” she said smiling.

 

“Even my father?” I laughed, surprising myself with the slight bitterness that edged my tone. I didn’t mention him much since he passed away a year and a half ago. Nobody I knew did. He was absentee to begin with and after my mother’s passing, not easy is the best I can do to avoid speaking unkindly of the dead.

 

It felt strange that something I might do, only by virtue of being granted ability by Allah Al Muwaffiq, would benefit him so wonderfully. In the only way one wants to be benefitted in the other world.

 

On the 9th, Qari Sahib and I had translated the verse about Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) being closer to the Mo’mineen than their own selves. Later when I was editing the piece, I kept stopping at the places where Ghaus Pak (ra) uses the word “father.”

 

The best of all the fathers…perfect…tender…merciful.

 

And then in the verse itself: He is…

 

Aula bil Mo’mineen: closer to the believers and has more rights over them than their own selves so that they give him preference over themselves and they choose his happiness and delight…

 

Min anfusihim: over their own selves because their overt beings are a function of his tarbiyat, teachings just like it is a result of the teachings of a father, tender and caring, who safeguards his son from every useless thing. He is Al Muraqib for him, watching over him in all his states so that he connects him to the everlasting life and infinite and eternal existence.

 

When I broke the fast and prayed Maghrib that evening, I cried throughout the sala’t. I didn’t say any Name of God. I just let the tears stream down my face and when I came to the part of the salam upon his being, I sobbed.

 

All days end and new ones begin. Pain dissipates over time unless it is clung to willfully. That is the evidence of the Mercy of the Divine which overwhelms everything. Hazrat Muhyuddin Ibn e Arabi (ra) said his namaz with a single sentence as his intention:

 

أريد أن أصلي قربة لله

 

Ureedu an ussali-a li qurba tal lillah

 

I want to pray to gain closeness to Allah Subhanahu!

 

I amend that invocation for myself adding two words: wa Rusoolahu – And I want to pray to gain closeness to His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

 

If the path of qurb is paved with degradation, I know one day I will only learn through him to bear it in excellence, a manner worthy of bearing it. Till then I welcome the guises in which humiliation appears. For in all of them, when it doesn’t emanate from me, will be, like the pearl in a shell, the upside that it carries within it.

 

Done