The Beginning of Surrender - Part VIII

Continued from: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52649997760/in/datepos...

 

The Seed of Tauba

 

أسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ رَبي مِنْ كُلِ ذَنبٍ

وَأتُوبُ إلَيهِ

 

I ask forgiveness of my sins from Allah who is my Lord

and I turn towards Him.

 

توبوا من ذنوبكم و سوء أدبكم

هذه التوبة غرسي في أرض قلوبكم بناء أبنيه عندكم،

أنقض بناء الشيطان

و أبن بناء الرحمن

و ألحقكم بمولاكم و ربكم عزوجل

 

“Repent for your misdeeds and your inappropriate regard!

This repentance is my seed in the soil of your hearts

so that I will make the foundation of a building for you.

I will demolish the building of Shaitaan

and make a building of Allah Ar Rahman

and I will make you rejoin with your Maula and Rabb, your Master

and your Lord, Exalted is His Majesty.”

Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

Ahmed Javaid Sahib had said that identifying flaws and shortcoming of character and behaviour were essential. Just identify them, he had said. I realized why the emphasis on the exercise was heavy.

 

From that identification by the aql to make disappear ignorance of one’s own self would follow remorse. It would be inevitable. At least for the person who might reflect truthfully on how that feature of their personality had come as an obstacle between them and their Lord.

 

From that regret would be expressed tauba. The repentance would ask, insist, of forgiveness. A prayer would be uttered. A dua would save the day!

 

Only days ago I had come across one of the most powerful verses around forgiveness. Giving it was truly Allah Al Ghaffar’s Declaration of love as well as mercy. The former was for His Love (salutations and greetings upon the Mercy of the Universe by His Lord of the Universe). The latter was for his enemies. For it was offered before it was asked for!

 

First Subhanahu said He wouldn’t destroy them whilst Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon Ar Rauf by Allah Ar Rauf) was amidst them even though that is what they deserved for rejecting him. A trial for them would become a trial for him. Instead then He would grant them leeway because they might seek forgiveness and so He would forgive them.

 

وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِیُعَذِّبَهُمۡ وَأَنتَ فِیهِمۡۚ

وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمۡ وَهُمۡ یَسۡتَغۡفِرُونَ

 

But Allah will not punish them while you (are) among them,

Allah will not punish them while they seek forgiveness.

Surah Al Anfal, Verse 33

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa ma kana Allahu li-yuaddibahum: And Allah has nothing to gain from punishing them, although they were deserving of intense punishment and an exemplary chastisement and destruction complete because of their refuting you and rejecting your Book…

 

Wa anta fi-him: whilst you are among them meaning that as long as you are among them and in their midst and in their places, then if Allah punished them, certainly it would afflict you like it would afflict them…

 

Wa: and if it became possible that We would choose you and save you in the moment of punishing them…

 

Ma kana Allahu mu’addibahum: Allah will still not punish them and will not intend to torment them and uproot them…

 

Wa hum yastaghfiroon: while they are supplicating before Him for forgiveness i.e. it is expected from them, despite their opposing imaan, faith that they might seek forgiveness in the future, unlike those nations who were destroyed before (because they would not ask for forgiveness ever).

 

It was extraordinary!

 

The Quran says that Subhanahu creates veils between Man and his heart when he is disobedient:

 

وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ ٱلْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِۦ

وَأَنَّهُۥٓ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ

 

And know that Allah comes between Man and his heart,

and that to Him you will be gathered.

Surah Al Anfal, Verse 24

 

Wa’lamo annallaha: And be certain that Allah Al Muttali’u, The Perfect Informer, who knows what is hidden in His Servants…

 

Yahoolu: diverts and creates an envelope…

 

Bayna al mar’ay: between Man, the one who has structured himself in a human skeleton, which is specific upon on the fixture of true balance…

 

Wa qalbihi: and his qalb, the Seat of Recognition within the heart, which encompasses within it Allah Al Haqq, The Truth who is Allah Al Munazza, The One Purified of all, free of being imprisoned, and Allah Al Mubri’o, The One Above Everything in being encompassed or in any limitation, (He creates between Man and his qalb) many veils.

 

So these veils and coverings always remain, hanging, between Man and his qalb, so the scent of love and closeness cannot reach him, that scent which is Al Muwaddi’, which leads towards fana, dissolution which results in baqa, everlastingness.

 

And this opening of the doors of Divine Love and Closeness is received only with ikhlas, sincerity, and tasleem, surrender and tafweed, submission and tawakkal, reliance and tabbattal, detachment and Tauheed Al Musqit, One-ness which makes drop everything extra.

 

Wa: And over all…

 

Annahu: Indeed, He…

 

Ilayhi: towards him, Subhanahu and no one else but Him, will rise the shadows in dissolution and will rise the invalid tangibles…

 

Tuhsharoon: gathered, returned like shadows return to the Creator of Shadows.

 

That was my favourite image of myself, being a shadow returning to the Creator of Shadows.

 

Each choice was like a road that had a fork in it. Even when it overtly seemed like there was no option. One path was always of obedience to the nafs and Shaitaan, the other to hear and answer the call of the one sent to teach as the guide, the warner, the witness, the bringer of glad tidings, the sun lit; Nabi Kareem, who Ghaus Pak (ra) calls Al Mazhar Al Ilahaya Az Zaati, the appearance of the Essence of The Divine.

 

He, who was Allah’s Jamaal, Beauty (Allah Al Jameel pours his greetings and salutations upon him and his family) was the only one for whom Subhanahu deliberately uses a verb (singular when the dual exists in Arabic) in the Quran so as to render them one and not two when it came to the invitation towards His Tauheed, His One-ness.

 

“Because the calling of the Rasool (peace be upon him and his family) is in fact the calling of Allah Al Haqq…”

 

‏يَٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ ‎

 

O you who believe!

Respond to Allah and His Messenger when he calls you to what gives you life.

Surah Al Anfal, Verse 24

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then said Allah Subhanahu, as a call to the believers, as a reminder for them and as a teaching:

 

Ya ayyohalladina aamino: O ye who attained to faith, it is the requirement of your imaan, faith, to answer the Call of Allah and answer the call of His Rasool (peace be upon him and his family)…

 

Istajeebo lillahe: respond to Him, be obedient to what is His Command and His Order and stay away from what He forbids…

 

Wa lir-Rasool: and His Rasool (peace be upon him and his family) adopt his sunnat, practice, and his adaab, manners and his ikhlaq, etiquette.

 

Ida da’akum: When he calls you, any one of them, because the calling of the Rasool (peace be upon him and his family) is in fact the calling of Allah Al Haqq…

 

Lima yuhhyeekum: because he gives you life-giving messages from the Al Aloom Ad Dineeya, knowledges of religion and Al Ma’aaraf Al Haqeeqa, the recognitions of the realities, bearing fruits of Mukashafaat, unveilings and Mushahidaat, witnessings which had become faded for the people who were on the right path and the ones on the wrong path, both (i.e. forgotten by them both and unclear for them).

 

Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by their Lord God) was the reminder for all in the Universe. Those on the right path and those on the wrong. For both would forget again and again.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) saying was the reason Rajab came into my focus last year. A 90 day cycle was unheard of in spirituality. 900 years of striving couldn’t ensure a result!

 

رجب شھر الزرع و شعبان شھر السقی و رمضان شھر الحصاد

و کل یحصد ما زرع و یجزی ما صنع

و من ضیع الزراعۃ ندم یوم حصادہ و احلف ظنہ مع سوء معادہ

 

Rajab is the month for sowing seeds, Sha’ban is the month for watering, and Ramadan is the month for reaping.

And all reap what they sow and will be rewarded for what they did.

And the one who wasted the (season of) planting regretted it on the day of harvest

and found it to be against what he thought would be the result.

 

Then the seeds had been about increased, never before performed, extra rituals of worship, nawafil. They were offered from the mind though, not the essence of my being, even though the intention to do them came out of a love for the Imam (as) in my heart.

 

This time I longed for my acts to be only be about adab and akhlaq, regard and manners, behaviour, character and morality.

 

Whether they were inspired by the most honoured Ahl e Bait, the family of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon them by Subhanahu), his companions or his followers who became the Friends of Allah. For there was only one standard that was in replication anyway.

 

“Glory be to Allah, whose praise should precede every writing and every speech!

 

May the blessings of Allah rest upon Muhammad, His Prophet and His Apostle, and on his family and companions, by whose guidance error is escaped!”

 

Imam Al Ghazali (ra)

 

At first I wanted my seeds to come from what I had heard were the foundational traits of Nabi Pak (salutations and greetings upon his perfection of manner by his Lord who raised him and his family such):

 

Haya – modesty.

Sakha – generosity.

Murrawwat – affection.

Tawadda’a – humility.

 

All took their root in sincerity. That sincerity of obedience and surrender was expressed in perfection by one.

 

‏قُلْ إِنِّىٓ أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ ٱللَّهَ مُخْلِصًۭا لَّهُ ٱلدِّينَ ‎

 

Say, "Indeed, I, I am commanded that I worship Allah,

being sincere to Him in the religion.

 

Surah Az Zumar, Verse 11

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then said Subhanahu, Exalted is He, commanding His Habeeb (salutations and greetings be upon him and his family by His Lord and His Angels) in order to guide him and to convey to His (other) ordinary worshippers, a thing He said that is specified for wisdom, a wisdom empty of the desires of the nafs of showing-off (of the self), only and only for wishing well and perfection (for others);

 

Qul: Say O Messenger who completes Messenger-hood (peace be upon you)…

 

Inni umirtu: Indeed I have been ordered from My Lord…

 

An a’buda Allaha: that I worship Allah as is His Right to be worshipped and be obedient to Him as His Right to be obeyed…

 

Mukhlisal lahu deen: bringing sincerity into the religion and offering surrender from myself in such a way that I make both, my obedience with sincerity and my surrender with sincerity, the means of reaching Him.

 

So that I gain recognition of Him as is His Right to be recognized and He pours upon my heart the purified waters of His Tauheed, One-ness and His Karamat, His Honour.

Waters from seas sweet!

 

But then Ghaus Pak (ra) told me what the seed should be. It was a seed of tauba.

 

“Repent for your misdeeds and your inappropriate regard!

This repentance is my seed in the soil of your hearts

so that I will make the foundation of a building for you.

I will demolish the building of Shaitaan

and make a building of Allah Ar Rahman

and I will make you rejoin with your Maula and Rabb, your Master

and your Lord, Exalted is His Majesty.”

 

If I chose repentance, then the seed wouldn’t even be mine. He had promised that he would become the seed. In the soil of my own heart. Shaitaan would lose influence over me as just he did over Amir Muawia (ratu). My remorse, my regret at all times would protect me from him.

 

The watering of that seed happens in Shabaan. It is the month that Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon his mercy upon us and his family’s) calls his own. So I thought that perhaps he, himself, would be the water that is poured on that seed.

 

Like rain that Subhanahu describes thus:

 

Anzalna: We sent down from the Station of Our Generosity…

Mina: from…

 

As Sama’i ma’an tahooran: the skies, rain pure, utmost in purity, highest, extreme in its purpose (of purification).

 

The month of Ramadan, Subhanahu calls His Own. Fasting is for Him. It is the only ritual for which He makes Himself the reward. Could it be His Qurb?

 

It was making sense why Ghaus Pak (ra) only mentioned one seed and no other. In my spiritual journey that I write about incessantly, one thing had made crystal clear these past months. The relationship between possibilities and shirrk, the intertwining of taqwa and tauba.

 

What had been in my control all along, in all of my decisions, was the exercising of the don’ts. I did things because I didn’t want to do them anymore. I didn’t want to do them because I started to care about the consequences, the most imperative of which became Subhanahu’s Displeasure, His Ghadab. That only came because when the first time I was terrified of my Master’s displeasure. Before that I was unaware of the gravity of my actions careless about their consequences, forgetting both. I was ghafil.

 

The connection between taqwa and tauba, then I learnt, is that one lies within the other. From the refrain follows naturally the repentance for not doing it earlier. It comes because the forgiveness of Subhanahu is a “breeze of good news and glad tidings and spirituality.”

 

The Chosen Ones, the Extraordinary, they live in a state of tauba from the start. It in kneaded in their essence.

 

Ghaus Pak: “The one who was loved by Allah from the beginning, He makes them pure in the world from that which might distract him even for a single moment from His Being.”

 

The ordinary reach it by way of mindfulness.

 

قُلۡ یَـٰعِبَادِ ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمۡۚ

 

Say, "O My Servants those who attained to faith!

Be mindful of your Lord.”

Surah Az Zumar, Verse 10

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Qul: Say, Ya Akmal Ar Rusul (Allah sends blessings and salutations upon you since the beginning of Creation till the end), O Messenger who completes the Messenger-hood, give this message on Our Behalf, calling out to the selected sincere amongst my Servants…

 

Ya ibadi: O My Worshippers, by attaching them with His Essence making them special and honouring them…

 

Alladina aamano: those who attained to faith from amongst you in the One-ness of My Essence and My Appearance according to My Affairs and My Ever changing-ness in accordance with My Names and Attributes, the requirement of your faith is taqwa, mindfulness from the demands of your desires…

 

Ittaqu Rabbukum: be conscious of your Lord and stay away from what is forbidden by Him and what He has ordered prevented for you and characterize yourself with His Commands and know that He…

 

Stay away…from the forbidden, the prevented. It was a don’t!

It made me remember the beginning of the Quran. The second line of Al Baqarah. It said in total clarity; the Book was only a guidance for the one who was Muttaqi, who were conscious of being seen by Him at all times and therefore exercised restraint.

 

Since the verses in the Quran appear in the order of importance, in terms of a ranking it seemed to be; seeking refuge from Shaitaan, then praise of Subhanahu, the expression of gratitude, a supplication (all in Surah Fateha) and then taqwa, being in a constant state of mindfulness of Him. The start of Al Baqarah.

 

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَیۡبَۛ فِیهِۛ هُدࣰى لِّلۡمُتَّقِینَ

 

That (is) the book, there is no doubt in it, it is a guidance for the ones conscious of Allah.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 2

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Dalika al Kitab-u: That is the Book لَّا یَأۡتِیهِ ٱلۡبَـٰطِلُ مِنۢ بَیۡنِ یَدَیۡهِ وَلَا مِنۡ خَلۡفِهِۦۖ falsehood cannot approach it (the Quran) from before or from behind. The levels of its exaltedness are far from comprehension. It is the gatherer of the ranks of the Exalted Names and Attributes in the Realms of the Unseen and Seen. It is gradually revealed upon your qalb, O Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who completes the Messenger-hood (salutations and greetings upon you and your family by your Lord), compiling in totality the order of the creation of the Universe from the beginning till the end, such that there is no inconsistency in it at all…

 

La raiba fihi: (such that) there is no possibility of doubt in it because, indeed, it is revealed from Us, its words and its meanings.

 

Words: Ghaus Pak (ra) means that they make helpless the most prominent of the orators and the most famous of the well-spoken from competing with the shortest verse of it, even though their claims were boastful.

 

Where as the meaning, it is inclusive of the totality of all the states of realities seen and secrets unseen, which were and which will be in both the worlds, this and the next and it is not possible to know it (that totality) and describe what all is in it, in terms of its wonderful patterns, except for the one who is the knower of the Unseen.

 

And We only sent it upon you, O one who is deserving of the matter of Messenger-hood and Vice-regency, so you (salutations and blessings upon your qalb that receives and reveals the Quran) can guide by it towards the Ocean of Divine Reality and you can guide through it also the one who is obedient to you from the ones who are walking in bewilderment in the wilderness of being astray, because in it…

Huda-n: is guidance, great…

 

Lil Muttaqeen: for the ones who safe-guard with compliance to His Commands and avoid what He disallows for their selves from the impurities of sins forbidden with true purification and a reaching towards the real rank and destination.

 

Safe-guards, avoids, disallows – don’ts!

 

I could not become grateful. I could only decide I didn’t want to be ungrateful. I could not become generous. I could only decide not to be a miser. I could not decide I will be patient. I could only decide I didn’t want to be impatient. I couldn’t decide to be selfless. I could only want to not be selfish. I couldn’t become sensitive. I could just desire to not be insensitive. Even in rituals, I could not decide to pray the two

Sunnah of Fajr without fail. I could only intend to not miss it.

Each time I exercised a don’t, mindful of it, conscious of it like the Imam Ghazali (ra) became, in my being rather than my mind, I reaped a fruit. I was rewarded for the taqwa, for the restraint. When I failed in the don’t, I felt regret.

 

The best example of in following something Maula e Kayinaat (as) said which was also the most difficult. “Even if a man came to you riding on a red camel (the most expensive of the time) and asks you for something, don’t let him leave empty handed.”

 

He said empty handed for us. He probably gave the man everything he possessed!

 

I could not tell myself to always say yes to everyone who asked me for money. That would never happen. My nafs, which I trained to be a miser, would never allow it. Most often I found that when I didn’t give many people anything at all I thought nothing of it.

 

But if I consciously decided I didn’t want to say no to anyone, then I would at least always give them something. A little, a lot, something. Why? Because the promise was to myself. If I broke it, I was a liar. If I didn’t, I felt remorse. If for nothing else, then for being a liar.

 

Any change that came within me was the fruit of emulating a practice of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his beloved family) or a Prophet (as) or a Friend of God (ra). Because they did it and they told me to do it. They told me how to do it. When I connected the act with them, the manner of executing it became “excellent.”

 

It came with ease.

 

فَأَمَّا مَنۡ أَعۡطَىٰ وَٱتَّقَىٰ

وَصَدَّقَ بِٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰ

فَسَنُیَسِّرُهُۥ لِلۡیُسۡرَىٰ

 

Then as for (him) who gives and is mindful,

and believes in the best,

then We will ease him towards the ease.

Surah Al Layl, Verses 5-8

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Fa amma man aa’ta: So as for the one who gives from that which he was given from Al Haqq from rizq, sustenance, in (both) form and meaning, along with khushu, humility and khudu, submission and khuloos, sincerity, of intention and inner most feelings and different kinds of obedience and worship commanded for him…

 

Wa attaqa: and is mindful in totality of that which is forbidden and that which is prohibited about which Allah’s warnings of restraint have come in them…

 

Wa saddaqa bil husna: and he affirms the limitless demands of the Names of Allah and the effects of His Exalted Attributes which can never be counted and never be enumerated…

 

Fa sanuyassirruhu: then We will prepare for him and give him ability…

 

Lil yusra: for ease towards the way, which is easy, connecting towards the goal of Tauheed, One-ness and Ma’rifa, Divine Recognition, that brings deliverance from the darkness of doubts and the shadows of paranoia.

 

Tauba was my wish to not be the same person. It was my wish that I was dying to change. It was my reward for being forgiven.

 

 

Forgiveness

 

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّی ظَلَمۡتُ نَفۡسِی فَٱغۡفِرۡ لِی فَغَفَرَ لَهُۥۤۚ

إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلۡغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِیمُ

 

He, the Prophet Musa (as) said, "My Lord! Indeed, I [I] have wronged my soul, so forgive me."

Then He, Subhanahu, forgave him.

Indeed He, He (is) the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Surah Al Qasas, Verse 16

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Qala: He said, the Prophet Musa (as), in humility before Allah Al Haqq, returning to Him, repentant of that which happened from him, pleading with Him with only regret…

 

Rabbi: O my Lord who raises me with the different kinds of Lutf, Affection and Karam, Generosity between me and my enemy and purifies me from the distress that is causing me suffering xxx by the demand of Your Jood, Your Bounty…

 

Inni: Indeed, I, with the steps taken in this matter loathsome…

 

Dalamtu nafsi: wronged my own self and offer it to you for Your Punishment because of the exiting from the demands of Your Boundaries by the killing of this man without the permission of the Shari’a…

 

Faghfir li: so forgive me, O my Lord, my sin after that I repented before you and returned to you from my sin, remorseful and seeking refuge, towards Your Door, returning…

 

Faghafara lahu: so his Lord forgave him his sin after he returned to him sincerely…

 

Innahu huwa al Ghafoor-u: Indeed, He is Al Ghafoor, The Forgiver of all sins of His Servants after they returned to him, in humility, disappointed, as losers…

 

Ar Rahim: He is Merciful for them accepting their tauba, repentance, after they were sincere in it and after he repented and returned about what was they did in error.

 

Ahmed Javaid Sahib said in a lecture once that a relationship loses its meaning when the emotion attached to it disappears. It is the emotion that defines the rights and duties attached to any bond between two people. With a younger person, its shafqat, kindness. With an older its ehtaram, respect. With a contemporary, its muhabbat, love.

 

Hence, he says, the absence of the emotion makes it devoid of ehsaas, feeling. Then it is simply rendered to be a delusion. It has no existence. It bears no reality.

 

It made sense. That was why extreme carelessness and indifference, total unawareness could come to exist in behaviour. No matter how paramount the relationship. Why akhlaq experienced sudden death in relationships that should have been life-long. There was no longer a fear of consequence from displeasing the other. The relationship being void of emotion is what allowed that indifference.

 

What kills emotion? I don’t know. So I asked Qari Sahib.

 

He told me this, “The first thing is that Allah Subhanahu places the inclination for another in one’s heart. It cannot be created. It cannot be caused. When it is pure, it is a blessing and it is endowed. It is the people themselves that make the feeling leave.

 

One reason is the tongue and what comes forth from it. That is from the prodding of Shaitaan in terms of anger etc. Another is lust that corrupts that feeling. For the world or others in relationships which are forbidden. Again Shaitaan.

The other even more important reason emotions become numb, appear dead is ingratitude.”

 

The effect of the blessing had to appear, be seen.

 

If you hide the blessings from Allah Azzo Jal and did not express gratitude for it, He will sieze it from you.

 

Those who were in a state of mindfulness of their akhlaq, its effect on others, taufeeq, ability, was granted. They became of the Saliheen; the ones who corrected and reformed themselves.

 

It was perfectly expressed in the prayer of the Prophet Yusuf (as) that I had been saying for months not realizing the effect it was having on my life:

 

تَوَفَّنِى مُسْلِمًۭا وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِٱلصَّلِحِينَ ‎ رَبِّ

 

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

Surah 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:

 

Rabbi: O my Lord who raises me, by Your Unmerited Affection and Your Bounty, with different kinds of guidance and favour that you have granted me…

…

Tawwafini: Make me die and take my soul…

 

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

 

Walhiqni: and enjoin 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 same blessed Prophet who taught me that self-deceit would only yield me living like the dead. Unable to see, unable to hear. Veil upon veil upon veil. I had to stop absolving my nafs, no matter the circumstance. It was

 

Shaitaan’s trap: “rationalizations.” In any situation with anyone, I had to take its failing upon my self. Regardless of who did what. Regardless of innocence and guilt.

No one offered the proof of that like Sayyadna Yusuf (as).

 

‏ وَمَآ أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِىٓ ۚ

إِنَّ ٱلنَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌۢ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّىٓ ۚ

إِنَّ رَبِّى غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ‎

 

"And yet I am not trying to absolve myself.

Indeed, the nafs Ammara is a certain inciter of evil,

unless my Lord bestows Mercy.

Indeed, my Lord (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Surah Yusuf, Verse 53

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

The he, Hazrat Yusuf (as) said:

 

Wa ma ubarri’o: And I do not absolve and do not justify…

 

Nafsi: my nafs, my self, from furataat, excessiveness and ghafalaat, forgetfulness and shameful thoughts and repulsive deeds according to the demands of the organs of lust and animalistic desires and how can I absolve myself and justify it?

 

Inna an nafsa: Indeed the nafs, the base self, that has been embodied in the nature of human beings…

 

La-Ammaarat-un: the forceful commanding of which is by its nature towards …

 

Bis su’: wrong-doing and fasaad, corruption and its focus upon that whenever it’s free and is its nature…

 

Illa ma rahima Rabbi: except for the one upon whom is bestowed the Mercy of my Lord i.e. Allah protects that nafs by His Endless Mercy and Affection from its transgressions and the whisperings of Satan towards it.

 

Inna Rabbi: Indeed my Lord, who has raised me with safeguarding from sin and with virtuousness…

 

Ghafoor-an: is All Forgiving of that which has happened from me from the occurences of my nafs…

 

Raheem-un: is All Merciful. He bestows Mercy towards me with His Fazal, Bounty and He preserves me with His Lutf, Kindness, from those things that make me distant from His Kunuf, Protection and His Jawaar, Safety.

 

The idea of focusing upon what not to do yielded a revelation. What applies to my own self also applied to a relationship with another.

 

If there was a problem that emerged in it I should not focus on what I could do but rather on what I should NOT do. The first took its root in desperation. The overtures, when unreturned, caused heartache and agonizing disappointment. The doing of the action caused the birth of hope that it would be reciprocated. It created the expectation that it would be noticed, appreciated.

 

I knew the drill. It would begin with me thinking of myself as “good” courtesy of Shaitaan’s imprisoning of my nafs with that whispering. Never would I reach the realization that my expectation of an outcome, of a change in another, was the cardinal sin; shirrk!

 

I had just experienced that with the young man in Karachi with whom I exercised patience simply but vowing not to be impatient. With a prayer, calling upon Subhanahu as my Musta’aan as did Hazrat Yaqoub (as) and leaving the matter with Him for resolve.

 

Along side the dua I practiced the attribute of murrawwat from the akhlaq from the blessed person who Allah’s Beloved (salutations and greetings upon the one declared the guide of the Universe by Allah Al Hadi). His instruction to not demean others publicly. There was no one else from the world then left in the equation. It was me, my guide and my Lord.

 

Then ability was granted. The nafs could not grant ability. It only stoked its egoism when it took on missions. Ability was only granted by Allah Al Mutawaffiq, The Granter of taufeeq. Sometimes it arrived with simply a tear that held in it helplessness. In the utterance of a prayer in the words of the Chosen!

 

Every time my nafs tried to do something good, it lasted but for a short time. Then I regressed. My qalb changed and then changed back again. What promised steadfastness, stability was up to The Divine. Hence the prayer of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon his heart):

 

يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِكَ ‏

 

O Changer of Hearts forever changing!

Make my qalb steadfast upon your religion.

 

When I pondered upon Ghaus Pak (ra) being the seed in my heart I felt overwhelmed. Who would have thought my heart would one day become hallowed ground!

 

The blessed of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon that name) only appears in the Quran four times. When I came across an instance in writing this piece where it did, I was excited to study the context of its appearance.

 

وَٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَءَامَنُوا۟ بِمَا نُزِّلَ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدࣲ وَهُوَ ٱلۡحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمۡ كَفَّرَ عَنۡهُمۡ سَیِّءَاتِهِمۡ وَأَصۡلَحَ بَالَهُمۡ

 

And those who believe and do righteous deeds, and believe in what is revealed to Muhammad (salutations and greetings upon him and his deeds),

and it (is) the truth from their Lord,

He will remove from them their misdeeds, and relieve their concerns.

Surah Muhammad, Verse 2

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Walladina aamano: And those who attained to imaan, faith in Allah and in His Rasool (salutations and greetings upon him and his honoured family by their Lord)…

 

Wa: and along with that…

 

Aamilo salihaat: do righteous deeds persistently, that create closeness for them with Allah…

 

Wa aamilu ala bima nuzzila ala Muhammad: and believe in what was revealed upon Muhammad (salutations and greetings upon his blessed name) i.e. in the totality of what has been revealed to him…

 

Wa: and they attest to all that is descent upon him…

 

Huwa al haqq: it is the truth, truthful according to the happenings, (the truth that is) descending…

 

Mir Rabbihim: from their Lord, without doubt and confusion…

 

Kaffara: He erases and removes…

 

Anhum: from them, Subhanahu…

 

Sayyiatihim: their bad deeds i.e. their consequences and their punishment from them…

 

Wa aslaha: and He reforms what was attached to them (those sinful deeds), and He changes the consequences that follow…

 

Baalahum: in their states of being i.e. He makes their states the best in religion and in the world according to the measure of this world and the Hereafter and He compensates them with the best of rewards.

 

Wa aslaha: He, Subhanahu, reforms…

 

The definition of aslaha, to reform, was different when it was Subhanahu doing the reforming for His Servant. It was the reward of deeds that were mindful of disobedience, thus allowing closeness. It was the reward of believing in His Seal of Prophet-hood (salutations and greetings upon his noor). Sins would be erased, their consequences would be removed, they would change so that states changed. To become the best!

 

Subhan Allah!

 

One page that would keep opening for me at the shrines was from the end of Surah Al Mo’minoon. It was always the last page. I kept translating different verses from it until I reached the last verse. It was a supplication that Subhanahu was teaching His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon the mercy of the Universe and his blessed family by His Lord Ar Raheem).

 

It became my dua!

 

وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱغۡفِرۡ وَٱرۡحَمۡ وَأَنتَ خَیۡرُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِینَ

 

And say, "My Lord! Forgive and have mercy,

and You are the Best of those who show mercy."

Surah Al Mo’minoon, Verse 118

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And after that Subhanahu made it certain, the success for the Mo’mineen, the believers, Al Muwwahideen, who are certain in the One-ness of Allah, in the beginning of this Surah and He deprived the Kafireen, the deniers of truth, Al Mushrikeen, the ones who associate others with Allah in the end (of the Surah)…

 

Qul: Say O Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who completes the Messenger-hood (greetings and salutations upon him and his family by His Allah who loves him), educating everyone who considers you his leader and follows in your footsteps and warning them as well of this and reminding them…

 

Rabbi: O my Lord, who raised me by your Kunf, Protection and Jawar, Safe Guarding…

 

Ighfir: forgive me and hide for me my selfish, egoistic self from my inner eyes…

 

Warham: and have mercy upon me by the negation of the essence of my nature and dissolve it in Your Essence.

 

Wa anta: And You with Your Essence and Your Names and Your Attributes…

 

Khair ur Rahimeen: are the Best of the Merciful, who are also demands of Your Attributes and reflections of Your Names and everything is with You and from You and there is no one who is Merciful except You and there is no Lord for me other than You.

 

For the first time I noticed that ask did not have in it a time frame. It was a plea for now as well as the Day of Judgement. It was a plea for now!

 

Normally in my translations of the tafseer of the verses, Qari Sahib and I never got into how Ghaus Pak (ra) starts and ends the exegesis of each Surah. There would be the opening section addressing the ones especially chosen by Allah Subhanahu. At the end would then be a section addressing the ordinary.

 

For some reason, Qari Sahib sent me the closing section of Surah Al Mo’minoon and we translated it.

 

Khatim as Surah – Al Mo’minoon

 

“O Muhammadi (his servant)! Upon you, as Al Mutahaqqiq, the one steadfast upon the station of worship, is compulsory this prayer (above) which you were made to hear by Allah Al Haqq through the tongue of your Prophet (greetings and salutations upon him and his family O Beloved by your Lord who chose his words) and be forever in its utterance, especially in your seclusion and after your prayers, determined upon it, holding on to this firmly.

 

Hear this prayer with acceptance and willingness until it becomes rooted in your heart and be trained in it till your state speaks through it without help from your tongue.

 

And when you are certain and settled in this rank, you will have completed the station of worship.

 

So for you, after that the progression of your worship is perfected by taufeeq, ability, granted from Allah and love from Him (you will reach) towards the rank of dissolution in Allah and being everlasting in His Permanence.

 

And this will not be completed except by the disappearance of your nature and vanishing of your personality and your being (an ordinary) human, until it is dropped from you, your personality completely and your individuality is dissolved overall.

 

And at this point you will be successful by how much you will be fated in success and you will reach what you are ordained to reach and there is no purpose except Allah and no end except Him.

 

It was comforting that all I had to do is bring a verse in to my state. Be in synch with the ask in it with the sincerity of my heart. That was easy; I awaited forgiveness. I was desperate for my selfish ego to be hidden from me. I wanted my tabyat, the acquired nature to be dissolved, to entirely disappear.

I memorized the prayer and its utterance came forth from my tongue through my days and in my nights.

 

The other prayer that had impacted my life had come by way of Imam Zain ul Abedin (as). After I had heard that his prayers “are the saplings for nisbat, association, with Nabi Pak’s (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by Allah Al Wudood) duas, I asked Qari Sahib if he had the book mentioned in the lecture; It was called Saheefa e Sajjadia.

He did and he sent it to me. It was in pdf format. I could barely read anything, the print was so small. I decided to do what I always do. Go to a random page and see what came up for me.

 

Almost all the prayers were long spanning several lines on an entire page. On the one I landed, the title was “The prayer for his own self and his loved ones in his family and his friends.”

On the translated Urdu page was a paragraph break. The first line of that paragraph was the supplication I picked and it was this:

 

اللَّهُمَّ أَغْنِنَا عَنْ هِبَةِ الْوَهَابِيْنَ بِهِبَتِكَ،

وَاكْفِنَا وَحْشَةَ الْقَاطِعِين بِصِلَتِكَ،

حَتّى لا نَرْغَبَ إلَى أحَد مَعَ بَذْلِكَ،

وَلاَ نَسْتَوْحِشَ مِنْ أحَد مَعَ فَضْلِكَ

 

Allahuma aghnina an hibbat il wahhabiyaani bi-hibatika

wakfina wahshat-il qaatiyeena bi silatika hatta la narghaba ila ahdim ma’ bi-dalika

wa la nastauhisha min ahdim ma’ fadlika

 

My first focus was upon the words that took their root in the Exalted Names of Allah. One was in the 99, Al Ghani. I looked up the exact meaning to understand the plea. What was I asking for myself when I said, ‘Aghnina - Make us ghani…?’

 

Ghani: From the root gha-noon-yeh which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to be free from wants or needs, to be self-sufficient, independent, to be able to do without help from others, to be content, satisfied, flourishing.

 

The other Beautiful Name was Al Kafi also meaning The Sufficient One as in He is Sufficient for all His Servants’ needs.

 

O Lord!

 

Make us free of the need of being gifted by others with only being granted by You

and make us self-sufficient from being melancholy because of the cutting off of ties by

others with the attachment of Your Being,

until we do not ask anything from anyone else because of it (that Gifting and Attachment)

and we do not ever feel the misery of loneliness because of anyone as a resut of Your Bounty upon us.

 

Ameen summa Ameen summa Ameem

 

I felt elated!

 

The universality of the prayers of Subhanahu’s Chosen always touched my heart. The pronoun was always, without fail, “us.” The words would be spoken by one but it would be asked for all of Mankind. No one was left outside. Everybody was included in the circle of humanity.

 

There is no such thing as coincidence in Islam. Everything is in the Knowledge of Allah Al Aleem. Where we land is a function of our choices, courtesy of our free will. Those choices are ours. The outcome is just pre-known and recorded in the Lauh e Mahfooz, the Tablet of Fate. That is what the Arif is gifted access to. All he has to do is glance at it whenever he wishes for anyone.

 

Imam Zain ul Abedin’s (as) prayer was a God-send, there is no doubt about that. I started memorizing it in Arabic. My need was certainly captured in it perfectly. Other cutting off ties suddenly appeared like a blessing instead of a trial. The closing of doors was necessary, as Ghaus Pak (ra) had said, for the Greatest Door of Subhanahu to open.

 

A mushrik would never be allowed any nearness at all. A person with ugly manners would never come close to it. Those people who were mean to me were making me in turn be mean to them. I hated that the most about being around them. The sarcasm that would spill from my tongue, the barbs impolite, the impatience rude. It was a nightmare. That a month ago my nafs, knowing that would be its behaviour, still pined for!

 

The thing about truth is that whenever it appears it challenges the status quo, whatever it might be. That is the Sunnah of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family and those who gained imaan, faith, by bowing in obedience to him. Love is the purest form of truth. That is why the rank of the beloved is the highest in the rungs of spirituality.

 

Al Fath Ar Rabbani:

 

“You are not of the ones who are without fear (as in the ones who don’t feel it) because without deed, the rote memorization of knowledge is all you possess. Therefore you cannot be an inheritor of the Prophets. Their inheritance only comes from knowledge and deed accompanied by sincerity.

 

Be in a state of awareness of your station and do not move towards that which is has not been apportioned for you.

 

Be in agreement with that has been destined for you by Allah Azzo Jal in your fate. If you do that, for sure, He will grant you ability and bestow kindness upon you and lift the burdens from your head and will treat you with an attitude of softness in this world and the Hereafter.”

 

A promise!

 

“When the imaan, the faith, of the Mo’min, the believer, becomes strong only then he is given the title of Sahib e Iqaan, the person of certainty. When that iqaan becomes strong, he is called the Arif, the one who knows Allah. When his knowledge becomes strong, he is named Muhibb, the lover. And when that love becomes steadfast, he is called the Mehboob, the beloved.”

 

Each time love appeared in my life, it forced me to change. Luckily I submitted to that change because I loved love. It’s swooning effect, its joy, its appearance. Even when later it almost always turned out to be an illusion. I was always overcome by it so I had no interest in preserving whatever version of myself I was then. I was in submission to it.

 

Yet I practiced my faith taking submission to my Lord who created me for granted. Even though it always formed the first layer of my identity.

 

I started reading about my faith fervently in my 30s but nothing changed in my behaviour till I went to Iraq. Till I went to Imam Ali (as), the Door of the City of Knowledge. That’s why I tell anyone and everyone I care for. If they want a relationship with Allah and His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family eternally) that possesses in it an ever evolving truth, an appearance before Maula e Ali (as) is the first step. It is incumbent.

 

He is the one who opens the door for knowledge to meet deed.

 

Rajab is his month. As I pray my new-found prayers, I wish for my identity to be shed and my states to be altered in it.

 

Forever!

 

I couldn’t help but think that I was brought full circle to a beginning. A thought that began in Damascus on the roof of a hotel, staring at a mountain was meant to show me that my thoughts, almost of them were mere imkaan, possibilities.

 

Each one reflected the state of my heart which was like a cupboard stacked with idols of hopes and statues of expectations. All of which were coated in ill-will. Both were flip sides of the same coin of shirrk!

 

And only two broke idols. Then or now!

 

As recorded by Allama Haysmi (ra) in Majma’ az Zawaid:

Imam Ali (as) narrates: “I accompanied Rasool Allah (salutations and greeting upon him and his family) until we reached the Ka’aba. Then Rasool Allah (salutations and greeting upon him and his family) stood upon my shoulders.

I tried to stand up and Rasool Allah (salutations and greeting upon him and his family) felt the weakness in me so he said, “Sit.”

 

I sat and he came down and said again, “You stand upon my shoulders,” so I climbed his shoulders and stood up.

 

Then I felt that if I wanted to, I could hold onto the edges of the sky.

 

I reached upwards inside the Ka’aba and there was a statue there of copper and bronze. I started taking it apart from the left and the right and from the front and back, until I had successfully dismantled it.

 

Nabi Kareem (salutations and greeting upon him and his family most eminent in the blessings of Allah) said, “Throw it,” so I threw it. Then I broke it into pieces the way glass is broken into pieces. Then I descended and he and I left the Ka’aba without coming across anyone.”

 

Only two are our friends.

 

‏إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَهُمْ رَكِعُونَ ‎

 

Your only ally is Allah and His Messenger, and those who believe, and those who establish prayer and give zakat and they are those who bow down in prayer.

Surah Al Maida’, Verse 55

 

Except that the verse was sent down in praise of one person’s deed:

 

“Huzoor Ghaus Pak (ra) says the verse is revealed for Maula Ali (may Allah gives honour to his countenance), when a beggar asked him (for alms) while he was in ruku’, bowing in prayer, and he loosened his ring so that it dropped (for him to take).”

 

Tafseer e Jilani

Then when Allah, Exalted is He, forbade the Mo’mineen from friendships with the Kuffar, the infidels, and love towards them and Allah, in emphasis, decided to inform them as to who is deserving of friendship and love and the reality of the two, He said…

 

Inna walliyyukum Allah: Indeed, Allah is your Friend, The One who is in charge of your matters as related to all kinds of ordinary love…

 

Wa Rasooluhu: and so is His Messenger (peace be upon him), who is His Vice-regent second to Him, also in charge…

 

Walladina aamino: and those who brought faith in Allah with a special love (extraordinary) because of their following the Prophet (peace be upon him) and they…

 

Alladina yuqeemoona: are the one who are forever…

As salat: in prayer that brings one close to Allah’s Essence…

And yu’toona az zakata: and they give charity which cleanses their batin, inner being, from focus on anything other than Allah…

 

Wa: in the state of…

 

Hum rak’ioon: bowing in their prayer.

 

The Imam’s prayer brought one closer to Allah’s Essence. The emulation of his charity cleansed the batin from shirrk.

 

The perfect manifestation of spirituality, jurisprudence, akhlaq – morality, character, behaviour, all stemmed from them and theirs. Whether they were the family and lineage by blood or companions or through the spiritual silsilas, all linked together in a chain from Master to disciple and so on.

 

One person of utmost importance before Subhanahu is Syeda Bibi Zainab (as). She was what made Damascus Paradise, the title given to the city by her beloved grand-father (salutations and greetings upon the life of the Universe and his honoured family) years before her entrance into it.

 

She was the reason the city was enclosed in a dome of Divine Mercy that brought souls into their most exalted state, Mutma’inna, effortlessly. I knew she was the reason that I was shown how that state of contentedness could come to exist elsewhere and everywhere, even for the ordinary.

 

That is what I realized from all the verses where Allah Al Muqtadir declares that He only does what He wills and nothing impedes in that.

 

He purifies whom He wills from Shaitaan.

 

وَلَكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ

…but Allah purifies whom He wills.

Surah An-Nur, Verse 21

 

Wa lakinn Allah: But Allah Ta’ala, the One who manages the affairs of His Servants…

 

Yuzzaki: inserts sincerity and purifies them from the traps of Satan and his evil promptings…

 

Mayyasha: whom so ever He wills, by virtue of His Wisdom and His Control by which He forms the human being…

He guides and misguides who he wills as a function of their obedience to His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his softness by his Lord who keep him and his family in His Eyes at all times):

 

فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُۖ

فَلَا تَذْهَبْ نَفْسُكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسَرَتٍۚ

 

For verily, Allah lets him go astray who wills to go astray, just as he guides him that wills to be guided.

Hence, O Allah’s Habeeb (salutations of peace be upon you and your family eternally),

don’t let your sorrow over them destroy you.

Surah Fatir, Verse 8

 

Fa Innallaha: The One who possess all Honour (Al-Mutazziz), who has Supreme Authority and Majesty, who controls all He wants…

 

Yudillu: He makes (some) wayward from the Path of Tauheed, according to His Wrath and according to His Majesty…

 

Mayya sha’: those of His Creation who are disobedient, sinking them in waywardness and making them lost…

 

Wa yahdi maayya sha’: and He guides and gives guidance (to others), for indeed, this is what is asked for as help by them first of all. This (Decision) is a function only and only of Allah’s Will and His Choice. Nothing is allowed to interrupt that or become involved in it in any way whatsoever.

 

Fa la tadhab nafsuka: So don’t exhaust yourself, O Beloved (peace be upon him), and don’t be a cause of your own extreme anguish and torment…

 

Alaihim: over the ones who are astray, though you love for them guidance and wish it for them…

 

Hasaraat: feeling sad for them and sorry for them, pining over this wish of yours for them again and again feeling that sorrow for them, layering grief upon grief because of their waywardness and refusal to accept guidance.

 

The exercise of my don’ts. That was the only hope for my obedience.

 

In repeating the meaning of the verse again Ghaus Pak (ra) says for emphasis:

 

“For that person who thinks his sin is goodness and thinks the deed is good for his nafs and believes it to be correct, all the time being unaware that it is in fact falsehood. This is the reason he has turned from the Right Path, thus totally distancing himself from guidance.

 

And you, O Beloved Messenger (peace be upon him) who completes The Message, will you torture yourself over them in sorrow wondering all the whole; “Why don’t they accept guidance and why don’t they bring faith?” Indeed, Allah makes astray those He wishes to make astray and guides those He wishes to guide. So don’t feel badly for them.”

 

The verses went on and on. In reference to every aspect of life. It was Subhanahu’s Will to bestow His Rahma, Mercy, Fazal, Bounty, Rizq, livelihood, Noor, His Light, Taqwa, His Consciousness. Darajaat, ranks of closeness leading to Him, Nasr, His Help, Huda, His Guidance, Sama’, inner hearing, Baseera, seeing from the eyes of the heart, Izza, honour in both the worlds upon whoever He wants, whenever He wishes. It was a sustenance complete, mental, emotional, physical, material and spiritual and it was for a person as well as their family.

 

If heaven and hell are states, as Iqbal says, hell is possibilities. Heaven is surrender.

 

Thus I come to await Rajab this year like no other month and the 13th like no other day I have ever waited for before. It will begin with asking Allah Al Haailo, The Only One who comes between, to be the barzakh, the separation of mercy between my states of being a Mo’min and my states of being a Kafir. I was both the seas, salty and sweet.

 

It will end with the last verse of Surah Al Baqarah, the series of prayers gifted to The Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family who are the source of Allah’s Forgiveness in the Universe).

 

َعَن ابْن عَبَّاس قَالَ: بَيْنَمَا جِبْرِيلُ قَاعِدٌ عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ سَمِعَ نَقِيضًا مِنْ فَوْقِهِ فَرَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ فَقَالَ: «هَذَا بَابٌ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فُتِحَ الْيَوْمَ لَمْ يُفْتَحْ قَطُّ إِلَّا الْيَوْمَ فَنَزَلَ مِنْهُ مَلَكٌ فَقَالَ هَذَا مَلَكٌ نَزَلَ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ لَمْ يَنْزِلْ قَطُّ إِلَّا الْيَوْمَ فَسَلَّمَ وَقَالَ أَبْشِرْ بِنُورَيْنِ أُوتِيتَهُمَا لَمْ يُؤْتَهُمَا نَبِيٌّ قَبْلَكَ فَاتِحَةُ الْكِتَابِ وَخَوَاتِيمُ سُورَةِ الْبَقَرَةِ لَنْ تَقْرَأَ بِحَرْفٍ مِنْهُمَا إِلَّا أَعْطيته» . رَوَاهُ مُسلم

 

Hazrat Ibn e Abbas (ratu) narrates:

 

Hazrat Gibrael (as) was sitting near the Prophet (salutations and greetings upon him and his family) when they heard a loud sound above them so they turned to look up and he said,

“This door has been opened for the first time in the skies and an angel has descended from it.”

 

Hazrat Gibrael (as) said, “This angel has not come to the Earth ever before.”

 

He, the angel, presented his salam and said, “Glad tidings come for you with two nur, Divine Lights, that have been sent only for you and not for any Prophet before you. Al Fatiha and the ending verses of Surah Al Baqarah.

 

Not will a word of them be uttered that will not be granted.

 

Rabbana…O my Lord who raises me with His Lutf, Affection and Fazl, Bounty…

 

رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَاۤ إِن نَّسِینَاۤ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَاۚ

 

"Our Lord! (Do) not take us to task if we forget or we err.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 286

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then when he pointed, Subhanahu, towards the secret behind obligations, He willed towards the performance of what was commanded to do, which is not possible except by His granting ability and a pulling from Him. For this purpose He has directed the dua, prayer and ista’anat, the asking of help and munajaat, the silent supplication in His Words:

 

Rabbana: O Our Lord, The One who raises us by His Lutf, Kindness, for the acceptance of Your Obligations (upon us) so we can reach towards the Atmosphere of Your Tauheed, One-ness and Your Glorification…

 

La tu-aakhid-na in naseena: do not take us to task for being forgetful about performing what You commanded us to do because of (the delusions of) our possibilities…

 

Au akhtaana: or our erring in it because of the lack of our understanding.

 

رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَیۡنَاۤ إِصۡرࣰا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِینَ مِن قَبۡلِنَاۚ

رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦۖ

وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَاۤۚ

أَنتَ مَوۡلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِینَ

 

And (do) not lay upon us a burden like that (which) You laid on those who (were) from before us.

Our Lord! [And] (do) not lay on us what we don’t have (the) strength (to bear).

And pardon us, and forgive us and have mercy on us.

You (are) our Protector, so help us against the people - [the] disbelievers.

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Rabbana wa la tahmil alayna isran: O Our Lord, do not lay upon us a burden of a veil thick and a curtain heavy which blinds the vision of Our quloob, the station within Our hearts that recognizes You, from the comprehension of Nur, the light of Your Tauheed, Your One-ness…

 

Kama hamalta-hu alladina min qabli-na Rabbana wa la tuhammil-na: the way you burdened the ones who came before us. Our Lord, do not burden us with the exhaustion of our ritualistic exercises and the hardships of obligations intensive due to the filth of imkaan, possibilities and ambiguities in relationships…

 

Ma la taqata lana bihi wa’fu: (exhaustion and hardship) that we don’t have the strength to bear and remove them, erase (them), by Your Favour…

 

An-na: for us (these burdens) from the demands of the characteristics of possibilities (in our nature)…

 

Waghfir lana: and forgive us i.e. conceal for us, O our Lord, our selfishness and ego-ism and the true nature of our personality from our own eyes….

 

Wa: and after that…

 

Irham-na: have mercy upon us with Your Mercy Expansive.

 

Anta Maulana: You are Our Lord and Master, The Controller of our blessings …

 

Fan sur na: so help us with your help and your succour so we can make well known Your Tauheed…

 

Ala qaum il Kafireen: against the nation of the deniers of truth and the ungrateful, As Saatireen, the ones covered by the haze of their false natures from the sun of the truth apparent on the horizon.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) prays: Make us steadfast by Your Lutf, Affection and by Your Ultimate Truth and by Your Tauheed, One-ness, Ya Khair ul Nasireen, O Best of Helpers, Ya Hadi-il Muddaleen, O Guide of the Astray!

 

In another tradition by Imam Abd bin Hameed the incident of the descent of the blessed verses ends with the line: “When the angel Gibrael (as) read the last two verses of Surah Al Baqarah, Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by his Lord who taught them prayers that bring us relief) said, “Ameen.”

 

In the echo of that “Ameen,” the one uttered by the Beloved of Allah Subhanahu (salutations or greetings upon his prayers and those of his blessed family’s prayers for us which are always answered by their Lord), “Ameen summa Ameena summa Ameen…”

 

رَبِّ ٱجۡعَلۡنِی مُقِیمَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَمِن ذُرِّیَّتِیۚ

رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلۡ دُعَاۤءِ

رَبَّنَا ٱغۡفِرۡ لِی وَلِوَٰلِدَیَّ وَلِلۡمُؤۡمِنِینَ یَوۡمَ یَقُومُ ٱلۡحِسَابُ

 

My Lord! Make me an establisher (of) the prayer, and from my offsprings.

Our Lord! and accept my prayer.

Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents and the believers (on) the Day of Reckoning.

Surah Ibrahim, Verse 40-41

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Rabbi ja’alni muqeem as salati: O my Lord! Make me steadfast in prayer in the manner of khudu’, intense compliance (of the heart) and khushu’, submission and tabattal, devotion and ikhlas, sincerity…

 

Wa: and make…

 

Min zurriyati: from my offspring as well ones who are steadfast in it like the etiquettes mentioned previously.

 

Rabbana: O Our Lord! Respond to my supplication…

 

Wa taqabbal dua: and accept (my) prayer in my favour and in favour of my children.

 

Rabbana aghfir-li: O Our Lord, Forgive me by your Favour, for if You do not, I don’t have control for my self over harm or benefit…

 

Wa liwalidayya wa lil Mo’mineena: and forgive my parents and the believers, all of them, and forgive in accordance with the demands of your Jood, Generosity, my errors and their errors…

 

Youma yaqoom ul hisaab: on the Day of Reckoning when the Register of deeds will be opened and accountability be asked for everything which happened in sin.

 

Ameen!

 

Done