The Beginning of Surrender - Part V

Continued from:

www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52650032173/in/datepos...

 

Patience is Beautiful

 

وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا۟ لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ قَالُوا۟

رَبَّنَاۤ أَفۡرِغۡ عَلَیۡنَا صَبۡرࣰا وَثَبِّتۡ أَقۡدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِینَ

 

And when they went forth to (face) Jalut and his troops they said,

 

“Our Lord! Pour on us patience and make firm our steps and help us against the people (who are) disbelieving.”

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 250

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa lamma barazu: And when they went forth to face him and came in front of them…

 

Li jalouta wa junudi-hi: Jalut and his army and came near them…

 

Qalu: they said, as the ones focusing towards their Lord, the ones beseeching Him, asking for His Help…

 

Rabba afrigh: O Our Lord, pour, with Your Favour…

 

Alayna sabr-an: and shower upon us patience so we are patient when descend upon us trials from You…

 

Wa sabbit aqdaamana: and make firm our footing in that affliction, seeking Your Raza, Pleasure, upon what You have decreed as fate…

 

Wansurna: and help us in being abiding in Your Command and its fulfillment…

 

Al-al qaum il kafireen: against the people who disbelieve and are ungrateful, who deny Your Favour and Your Blessings. Indeed, You are Aziz ul Hakeem!

 

It was in a class on Surah Yusuf that the verse on patience first appeared. The word associated with it was Jameelun. It is meant to be beautiful:

 

فَصَبۡرࣱ جَمِیلࣱۖ

وَٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُسۡتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ

 

O patience (is) beautiful. And Allah (is) the One sought for help against what you describe.

Surah Yusuf, Verse 18

 

My cousin Sanya raised a point.

 

“I have never ever experienced patience as beautiful Qari Sahib. It is bitter and it is difficult. It is agonizing.”

 

Then she turned towards us, the others in the class and went down the line.

 

“Who here has experienced sabr as beautiful or practiced it beautifully? Have you?” she asked us, calling us by our names individually as if tallying the score.

 

The nays had it. Maybe one person answered in the affirmative. I was just silent. I was just wondering when I even practiced patience at all?

 

I looked up the verse in my class with Qari Sahib the next day.

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Fa sabrun jameel-un: So be patient beautifully, most beautiful (in your patience), over what you face as a trial.

 

Wallahu al Musta’anu ala: And I only seek help from Allah Al

 

Musta’aan, The One who gives help, against…

 

Ala Ma tasifoon: what you narrate with your tongues, O Al Musrifoona, O Transgressors from His Boundaries, because there is no power to bear what you say without the help of Allah and His Power.

 

I stared at the new Name of Allah Subhanahu that appeared.

 

Al Must’aan. The Only One who gives help. And when? In the verse it said, when they say, who are ignoring of all limits, knowingly or unknowingly, when what they say is hurtful, “because there is no power to bear what you say without the help of Allah and His Power.”

 

A few days later at the shrine, I came across the exact same words sabr-an jameel-an. This time it was in the context of the one who was the perfect manifestation of the Divine Attribute, Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his manner of being patient by his Lord). In the tafseer, Ghaus Pak (ra) described exactly what that patience entailed.

 

فَٱصۡبِرۡ صَبۡرࣰا جَمِیلًا

 

So be patient with gracious patience.

Surah Al Ma’arij, Verse 5

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And after the revealing of the matter for you:

 

Fasbir: Be patient, O Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who completes Messenger-hood (salutations and greetings upon you and your family by As Saboor Himself), upon the different kinds of pain from your enemies and their mockery…

 

Sabran jameel-an: with a patience beautiful, without the mix of unease and distress and dissatisfaction and displeasure and a haste for revenge, expecting to punish them due to their disrespecting you. For indeed, the one who is your enemy, soon will reach them a punishment promised.

 

Despite having quoted a hadith endlessly, for the first time in my life it made sense to me why patience was one of the two pillars upon which the religion stood. Why exercising it beautifully only meant one thing; a surrender to what was destined to happen. That surrender is what made it only a boon.

 

Just like the blessing was a trial, surrender made the trial a blessing!

 

And most remarkably, why the word used by Nabi Kareem (Subhanahu sends salutations and greetings upon as As Saboor) for the person who would be successful in the endeavor was “amazing!”

 

Ajban!

 

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 (salutations and greetings be upon him and his family),

“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.”

 

I looked up Allah Subhanahu’s Name – As Saboor: “The One who is most patient and enduring. He does not act hastily but rather waits until the proper time. He does not punish the disobedient and those who didn’t believe in Him. He allows time for them to repent or an opportunity to take the right path.”

 

And what did it mean for me?

 

From the root, suad, be, ra which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to be patience, to be enduring, to endure trial or affliction with good manner, to be contented in trial or affliction without show of complaint, to make no distinction between comfort and affliction, to bear calmly, to persevere cheerfully, to be steadfast, constant, to restrain.

 

The first time the opportunity presented itself for me to exercise that patience and to do so beautifully was whilst writing this piece in Karachi. In a house that I had visited for 35 years and therefore considered my own. A young staff member, who had been working there for a couple of years and was clearly in full possession of Shaitaan, had lost control of his tongue and therefore his tone.

 

The first time I noticed it I didn’t get a chance to react because the owner of the house, my friend, was in the room. She didn’t react so neither did I. The second time though I had asked him for something and he was giving me monosyllabic answers in a voice that reaching the absolute pinnacle of rudeness.

 

In my surprise I said to him on the phone, as we were on the home intercom, “Please control your tone and watch the manner in which you speak to me.”

 

Instead of saying what I expected, which was either denial or that I had misunderstood etc., he turned around and repeated his words with an even more adamant voice.

 

On the verse of losing my temper, I started to say, “Come upstairs…” when my friend’s therapist, who was also in the room, grabbed the phone from me saying, “Don’t! It’s not worth it.”

 

I went to my room in more bewilderment than rage and started thinking about how best to blast him to hell and back. But then a lecture I had heard recently kept coming to my head which kept negating my fury against the young man.

 

I had begun listening to an elderly gentleman called Ahmed Javaid Sahib. He spoke only in Urdu and it was the most refined and therefore difficult Urdu I had ever heard in my life. I had been introduced to him by my mother’s friend Ahad a few years ago.

 

I had tried to hear his talks then but felt I couldn’t comprehend anything so abandoned it. The other deterrent at the time was also that Ahmed Javaid Sahib’s lectures had extremely complicated titles. He was heavy into philosophy and they would start with words like epistemology of this and that. I avoided those completely.

 

His other favourite topic was poetry. He could spend an hour and a half dissecting a single couplet of Ghalib or Maulana Rum (ra). I didn’t hear those either. My vocabulary, tragically minimal in Urdu, prevented it. He was clearly brilliant though so I kept listening.

 

His sentences would be long. We had that in common but it wasn’t working in my favour. When I decided I wanted a few lines for this piece, translating them with Qari Sahib would take ages. It made me realize Urdu wasn’t like Arabic. In Arabic thoughts were expressed such that the words would sequentially describe the thought. In Urdu it was the reverse. The last part of the thought would appear first so going word by word didn’t work. In any case, I began.

 

Once he said about Nabi Kareem that it was not possible for the ordinary to know the realities of the person of the one who was second to Allah Subhanahu in the Universe (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by Al Wudood and His Angels). However, certain characteristics were identified as steadfastly placed in the core of his exalted nature:

 

1.Haya – modesty

2.Sakha – generosity

3.Murrawwat - affection

 

And this was the one that had floored me. The description of the virtue was given in this manner:

 

“Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by Ar Raheem, uniquely Merciful for him) refrained at all times from embarrassing anyone. Such that even if he was upset with someone, he only expressed it as a signal. He never criticized anyone by name in front of others, always generalizing the admonition. ‘Why are people doing such and such things?’ he would say and the ones doing it would realize it was them. But he never took names…”

 

4.Tawadda’a – humility

 

Murrawwat!

 

In Karachi because of the incident, I noticed how I was different in my nature. 10 years ago I would have yelled at my friend, blasted the kid, packed my bags and left for Lahore. Instead I slept on it.

 

The verse returned to me and I saw what lay ahead. The possibility of patience being sweet instead of bitter!

 

فَصَبۡرࣱ جَمِیلࣱۖ

وَٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُسۡتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ

 

O patience (is) beautiful. And Allah (is) the One sought for help against what you describe.

Surah Yusuf, Verse 18

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Fa sabrun jameel-un: So be patient beautifully, most beautiful (in your patience), over what you face as a trial.

 

Wallahu al Musta’anu ala: And I only seek help from Allah Al Musta’aan, The One who gives help, in…

Ala Ma tasifoon: what you narrate with your tongues, O Al Musrifoona, O transgressors from His Boundaries, because there is no power to bear what you say without the help of Allah and His Power.

 

What did I really want anyway, I asked myself. For a poor person to get fired? No. For him to be publicly reprimanded. Perhaps yes. But then was that murrawwat? Definitely not. All I was feeling was a false sense of dignity. Undeniably courtesy of Shaitaan. It was his preferred modus operandi.

 

So I let it go. I surrendered the matter, telling myself that I guess the worst case scenario was that I might not come back to the house.

 

One thing I did, at the advice of an elder in Lahore, was to avoid the person. So as not to put myself in a situation where he might be rude again because it was clearly no longer in his control. I knew what was going on in his head. He was taking care of the person who was most important person in the house. Who was also unwell. Even though he wasn’t doing anything that any other person couldn’t have done easily, Satan had whispered to him what he whispers to everyone who has an “important” job in a house.

 

“You are indispensable, indisposable. Do what you want. No one can do anything to you!”

 

There was a verse in the Quran that attested to it.

 

وَإِذۡ زَیَّنَ لَهُمُ ٱلشَّیۡطَـٰنُ أَعۡمَـٰلَهُمۡ وَقَالَ لَا غَالِبَ لَكُمُ ٱلۡیَوۡمَ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَإِنِّی جَارࣱ لَّكُمۡۖ

 

And when made attractive to them the Shaitaan their deeds and he said, "No (one) (can) overcome you today from the people and indeed, I am a neighbor for you.

 

Surah Al Anfal, Verse 48

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And overall what help comes against you all (O Believers) and aid comes against you all (i.e. to harm you), that is only the deception of Shaitaan with vain hopes and his allurement towards your enemies (the opponents i.e. the deniers of truth), (supposedly) to help you by that misleading becoming a curse for them. Remember (O Mo’mineen)…

 

Id zayyana: when it was made beautiful and appealing…

 

Lahum Ash Shaitaan amaalahum: for them (the deniers of truth) their deeds by Shaitaan i.e. their enemity with you and their warfare with you.

 

Wa qala: And he said, Shaitaan, in fighting you, inspiring their mind with seduction in their state of fear and discouragement through his way of waswasa, paranoia, until they imagined that, certainly, nobody could prevail over them at all, with confidence in the excess of their numbers and their preparation…

 

La ghaliba lakum al youm min an naas: (he whispered), “No one can prevail upon you today from the people and for you all is the controlling and the victory…

 

Wa inni jaarullakum: and indeed, I am certainly your protector, the giver of refuge for you.”

 

It was literally that. His whole aura was so distorted it couldn’t have been anything else. So I let it go. Two days later I noticed a change. He started doing my work without my asking for it so I started thanking him. He started greeting me every time he saw me so I returned his greeting. And just like that, without reaction on my part, everything normalized.

Thus the Quran promises, that indeed, Allah Subhanahu is with the one who are the Sabireen who seek His Help through prayer.

 

یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسۡتَعِینُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِۚ

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِینَ

 

O you who believed! Seek help through patience and the prayer.

Indeed, Allah (is) with the patient ones.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 153

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then indeed, He, at the time when Allah Subhanahu placed extreme emphasis on admonition and instruction and called out to them in hope that they would become aware, even though their original nature is based upon the Essence of Tauheed, One-ness so He said:

 

Ya ayyahalladina aamano: O ye who attained to faith with the Essence of Tauheed…

 

Ista’eenu: seek help, the true reality of which and its unveiling…

 

Bis sabr: is with patience upon that which came to you from the repulsive mishaps of your nafs, selves…

 

Wa sala’t: and prayer i.e. the inclination towards the focus upon His Essence with all of your organs and parts.

 

Innallaha: Indeed Allah is Al Mu’abbir, The One who is expressed as being the Only One who is…

 

Ma’a as Sabireen: with the ones who practice patience, Al Mutahammileena, the ones who bear the burdens of their trials until they are delivered from them.

 

Then Ghaus Pak (ra) prays: “O Lord! Make us of them by Your Fazl, Bounty and your Karam, Generosity!”

 

That was the thing about the prayers of the Chosen. They were always about asking Subhanahu to just make us the way He wanted us to be. Without the striving, without the toiling. Like Kun Fayakun. Be and so it was!

 

Kun lana kama kunta lahum – Make us how You made them!

 

 

What is a Dua – The Secret of the Supplication

 

وَقُل رَّبِّ أَدْخِلْنِى مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍۢ

وَأَخْرِجْنِى مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍۢ

وَٱجْعَل لِّى مِن لَّدُنكَ سُلْطَـٰنًۭا نَّصِيرًۭا

 

And say (in your prayer O Beloved), “O my Sustainer!

Cause me to enter (in whatever I do) in a manner, true and sincere,

and cause me to leave it in a manner true and sincere.

And grant me of from Your Presence, a sustaining support.

Surah Al-Isra’, Verse 80

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

O one who is on the path of Allah, O worshipper, and after that you reached towards it, (the station of Maqam e Mahmood), there will not be remaining for you a (higher) rank of completion and guidance but instead you are now completed and are the guided one.

 

When revelations come to you and permission is granted to you by Subhanahu, you will become a perfect Murshid, guide, for the people with shortcomings, incomplete, interceding for them by the Permission of Allah, for their deliverance from the compulsions of imkaan, possibilities, that lead one to the pitfalls of fire and you will make even them reach the atmosphere of heavens with the ability granted by Allah to you and to them.

 

Wa: And after your reaching from your striving and your struggling and the different times of waking up at night and your praying during the nights by the ability granted by Allah and the ease He gave you so that you reached the stations exalted and the ranks high …

 

Qul: say, beseechingly, to your Lord, seeking refuge from Him, focusing towards him as the desirer of the highest standard of capability and being firmly placed in the station which you have reached by His granted ability and His Help…

 

Rabbi: O my Lord who raises me by different types of Lutf, Kindnesses and Karam, Mercy…

 

Adkhilni: Make me enter by Your Fazl, Bounty and Jood, Generosity…

 

Modkhala sidq-in: the entrance of truth and the destination of being settled and it is the Place of Tauheed, One-ness, free of all kinds of additions and excesses and make me be in it forever without fluctuation and without staining…

 

Wa akhrij-ni: and make me exit the demands of my selfishness and my identity for the atmosphere of dissolution which connects to the honour of ever-lastingness and meeting (The Divine)…

 

Mukhraja sidq-in: the exit of truth without hesitation and shaking…

 

Waj’al-i: and assign for me in the moment of my ego quarreling with me, overcoming me with wrongdoing…

 

Mil ladunka sultan-an: from Your Authority i.e. proven in a way that nothing can overrule it, clearly revealed, witnessed in totality, so it becomes…

 

Naseera: a helper who helps me against my enemies and frees me from their grip in the moment that they attack me.

 

The reality of the supplication also came to me via one of Ahmed Javaid Sahib’s lectures. I had clicked upon a talk by him on the Imam Zain ul Abideen (as), the blessed son of Imam Hussain (as) and the sole male survivor of Karbala. He had spent the rest of his life, until her passing, with his aunt, Hazrat Bibi Zainab (as). My relationship with her formed the essence of my entire spiritual and worldly existence.

 

Unknowingly after my first visit to Damascus in 2010 and in totality since the second in 2022!

 

In the lecture, Javaid Sahib spoke at length about the blessed Imam’s (as) supplications and because of that he defined what it, a dua, is. It was something that I had never paid much attention to at all mostly because I didn’t ask for things in my prayers. I had memorized certain ones from the Quran that Allah Subhanahu had taught His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family and the words they are taught to speak by their Lord).

 

I connected with the words here and there but not with much emphasis. I just picked a few, learnt them and it became a habit to recite them at some point once a day. I didn’t know until now that even those inattentive utterances had been having an impact. That every single word of the Quran and every sentence of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon his speech and that of his blessed family) holds in it a ta’seer, an effect.

 

Just recently the dua that had come my way from Ghaus Pak (ra) had transformed my life. Even that was putting it mildly. Hence I was acutely interested in understanding more about what it really was.

 

Javaid Sahib said that the supplication was the core of worship and there was nothing more powerful than it. The ask, when one’s need, was in synchronicity in its words with those most beloved to Allah Subhanahu, fulfilled the demands of worship like no other act would or could. More so it raised the possibility of its being answered and there was nothing more extraordinary.

 

Subhan Allah!

 

“Dua, (and the supplications of those especially loved and favoured by Allah Subhanahu especially the Ahle Beit), offered in a daily routine, is what opens the door towards the path which leads to the essence of the way of worship of Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by The Only One who answers prayers).

 

Imam Zain ul Abedin’s (as) prayers are the saplings for nisbat, association, with the duas Nabi Pak’s (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by Allah Al Wudood), with his invocations before His Lord, who raised him like He raised no other.”

 

Then he defined what a dua is:

 

“What is a dua? Dua is the jauhar e bandagi, the jewel of the act of worship, that is felt in its entirety and expressed in totality.

 

The jauhar e bandagi, the jewel of worship, its essence is felt in perfection in the asking for help and it is expressed in perfection as worship by the tongue in words. So both elements required are present and fulfilled (in the Surah Fatiha which is also recited in the beginning of each rak’at of the five prayers):

 

إِیَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِیَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِینُ

 

You Alone we worship and You Alone we ask for help.

Surah Fatiha, Verse 5

 

(Iyyaka na’budu and Iyyaka nasta-een)

 

The essence of that act of worship, the way that it is felt when it is uttered, this feeling and its expression on that level does not exist in in any other routine of zikr azkaar, ways of remembering Allah and tasbeehat, His Praise.

 

So if we learn how to make the dua correctly i.e.

1.we begin to learn the reason that the dua is needed by us

2.and then express that need with the utmost humility

3.and with the certainty of Subhanahu’s Mercy before His Presence,

4.if we express it beautifully,

 

then we have been successfully able to internalize the act of worship from its foundation to its perfection.

 

That is how important a dua is. There is nothing else in the Universe that is equal to the dua, the supplication, in terms of encompassing within it in totality the jauhar e bandagi, the jewel of the act of worship. Through it one receives the ma’rifat, the recognition of its haqeeqat. Through the dua one recognizes the reality of worship. It is what opens the way which creates a nisbat, connection, of one’s appearance directly before The Divine.

 

Otherwise all other forms of worship, other than the dua, have the element of the intellect and the mind prevailing upon them (nisbat e zehni). While in the dua is the nisbat e wujoodi, the connection of the essence of the being.”

 

“One’s appearance directly before The Divine!” It was Javaid Sahib again who had told me what there were different chariots that Allah Subhanahu had created Himself to allow closeness with Him. One was shukr, gratitude. One was sabr, patience. Another was ilm, the pursuit of knowledge. There was charity etc. But the chariot that was the fastest, that brought a person, anyone, before their Lord, instantly, was tauba. Repentance! Ikhlas, sincerity, was the pre-requisite for all the chariots to move at all.

 

It made me wonder: was repentance then just a kind of supplication? It was! Because when a person admitted fault and wept over it, recognized the transgression with deep remorse, it was in fact a supplication. Because the repentance, inherently and intrinsically, held within its expression the ask of forgiveness.

 

On my way to Damascus in November, I had come across a dua of Syeda Bibi Fatima Az Zahra (as). I had been perusing a book on the bedside table of my friend’s house in Karachi. It was a book of supplications. Then I didn’t know anything about the power prayer held in it. The page had opened to a dua that was hers. I came across anything related to her person so rarely I had just stared at it. Then I took a picture of the page and memorized the words.

 

اللهم إني أسألك بوجهك الكريم واسمك العظيم ، أن تصلّي على محمدٍ وآل محمد ،

وأن تغفر لي ذنبي العظيم

 

O my Lord! Indeed I ask you for the sake of Your Most Merciful Essence and Your Exalted Name to send your salutations and greetings and praise upon Muhammad (saw) and his blessed family (as)

and to forgive me my greatest sin.

 

That was before my debacle. Every time I would recite the words, I thought two things. Why was there a plea for Subhanahu to send blessings upon Nabi Pak (salutations and greetings upon him) and the Ahl e Beit when He was already doing it continuously? And what was the danb-i adeem, my gravest sin?

 

I asked Qari Sahib the first.

 

He said, “This is because they know that Subhanahu is The Only One who fulfills the right of the sending of those salutations upon His Beloved and their family because He is the Only One who knows His Beloved’s reality and by extention theirs. Many scholars including Abu Muhammad Marjani says in his tafseer that the benefit of sending the salutation only returns upon one’s own self. Thus it becomes as if you are praying for your self. That is why it is considered the afdal prayer, the best one.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

My gravest sin changed every single day to something new. But I had just discovered the one that had existed in continuum, coating all the other layerings; shirrk. Those hopes I had of others that melted into the fire of possibilities in my head, poisoning my heart with expectations, was what had always been my greatest sin. I was so deeply sorry about it that weeping over it from now till the day I died couldn’t express that regret.

 

But Allah is Al Barro, Kind, so He would let me forget that sin, even that gravest one of all!

 

إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْبَرُّ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

 

He, He, is the Most Kind, the Most Merciful.

Surah At Tur, Verse 28

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Indeed, Allah Subhanahu…

 

Huwal Barro: He is Al Mohsin, Kind, Al Makhsoos, The Only Benefactor, Al Munhasir, The Only One who exclusively possesses this quality of Ehsaan, Kindness and Inaam, bestowing blessings…

 

Ar Rahim: The Most Abundantly Merciful and giving of bounty to the Saileen, the ones who ask, the Mo’mineen, the believers, the Al Mustahiqqeen, the ones deserving, so Allah responds and answers, by His Kindness, our asks of Him. And He fulfills our hopes according to His Immense Generosity and Mercy.

 

I started thinking about the two kinds of forgetting. There was a forgetting that Allah Subhanahu Himself created for a human being. Then there was the forgetting that Shaitaan made a person do. What was the difference between them?

 

One thing was certain. When Subhanahu allowed a person to forget a wrong, it only created more mindfulness. Taqwa became raised out of the gratitude that the sin became forgotten. Forgotten by the mind, the heart and erased in the recording of deeds that held consequence in both places; the world and the Hereafter. Its result was tranquility because the expression of gratitude became intensified. Charity increased. Sensitivity and thoughtfulness for others heightened.

 

Shaitaan’s forgetfulness was ghaflat. It was neglectfulness and unawareness. Its consequence was of veils thick and curtains heavy. Over the heart as well as the ears and the eyes. It accentuated restlessness. It worsened behaviour because it was layered upon an attitude of persistent stubborn-ness and arrogance.

 

Since time immemorial, Shaitaan was in a constant, never-ending race against himself in trying to emulate what was ordained by Subhanahu for the Children of Adam with a singular goal; to see how he could warp Divine Structures and Commands sent for Mankind.

 

A verse in the Quran that said that about him. Whatever Allah made he would alter and corrupt and never stop doing it.

 

وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمۡ وَلَأُمَنِّیَنَّهُمۡ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمۡ فَلَیُبَتِّكُنَّ ءَاذَانَ ٱلۡأَنۡعَـٰمِ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمۡ فَلَیُغَیِّرُنَّ خَلۡقَ ٱللَّهِۚ

 

And I will surely mislead them and surely arouse desires in them, and surely I will order them so they will surely cut off (the) ears (of) the cattle

and surely I will order them so they will surely change (the) Creation (of) Allah."

Surah An Nisa, Verse 119

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wala udillannahum: And I will surely mislead them with different kinds of deceit and whisperings of paranoia from the Path of Your Tauheed, One-ness…

 

Wala ummanniyannahum: and arouse false aspirations in them which relate to their livelihood in the abode of deception (the world), amongst them being greed and never ending hopes and all kinds of wishes of the nafs, the base self, and what is attractive for it…

 

Wala umarannahum: and I will command them with the changing of that which You have generated and (command them to) find faults in what You created and the breaking down of what You have invented…

 

Fala yubattikunna: so surely they will cut off and definitely tear…

 

A’adanal anaam: the ears of cattle and the nose of the horses (for their gods) and other such deeds which they will do with Your Creation without the permission (necessary) of Jurisprudence…

 

Wala aamorannahum falayughayyarunna khalqallah-i: and I will order them to change the Creation of Allah with my control over them and my consoling and sympathy with them until they change what was created upon the demands of the Wisdom of Divine Commands, which is made to arise upon the nature set by Allah and (as a result of my order) they will deviate from the path of balance and stability.

 

Endless examples came to my mind. The one that was appearing again and again on Drudge the week I wrote this was about living endlessly. The obsession of the billionaire was to never die. They were pouring a portion of their wealth into start-ups to make that happen. That had started years ago. I had written about it years ago.

 

Now even the ordinary had started believing it might happen. And rightly enough were terrified by the possibility (futurism.com/elderly-billionaires-immortal-compounding-we...).

 

Yet that same evil, conniving, hypocrite that Shaitaan was, when push came to shove and he saw defeat in front of him in the moment that it was about to appear, he turned and ran the other way. The betrayal was expected but even then the manner of it was unbelievable. As he ran abandoning his followers, he even declared loudly and clearly his separation from them:

 

Unlike them, he feared Allah!

 

إِنِّیۤ أَخَافُ ٱللَّهَۚ

 

Indeed, I [I] fear Allah.

Surah Al Anfal, Verse 48

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Inni akhaafullah: Indeed I am fearful of Allah, of His Qahr Wrath and His Ghadab, Anger.

 

I can’t help but wonder if asking for that forgiveness of my most serious sin invoking the exact words of the person who Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his family who are purified by Subhanahu Himself) said was a part of him, what pleased her pleased him, that she would enter Paradise first, his beloved daughter, brought everything to unfold as it did.

 

When I was translating Ahmed Javaid Sahib’s lecture into English Qari Sahib remarked:

 

“In other forms of worship, no one knows whether one is fasting or reading the Darood or giving charity or not. But in making the dua, the hands being held up towards one’s Lord, that simple act itself creates a connection of the physical being with Allah.”

 

Javaid Sahib’s lecture continued: “No wonder Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his beloved family which reverberate in the Universe) said:

 

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ

الدُّعَاءُ مُخُّ الْعِبَادَةِ

 

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him and his family who witnessed their Lord in each prayer) said,

“Supplication is the essence of worship.”

 

Subhan Allah!

 

“Dua is the only reason for the state of what is born in the heart of worship and what is needed as the fundamental strength for the cause of perfection in the expression of worship. In the whole life cycle of worship, dua is the deed which creates the greatest ability to cause self-contentment for the nafs.

 

No person can, with all of their qalb, their heart within the heart, with complete intention, with the totality of the nafs and everything in words, learn anything through worship unless he creates a connection with Nabi Pak’s (saw) supplications emotionally, needfully, and his words.

 

It is imperative that one makes the level of that connection with him so strong that the need mentioned in his prayer is also their need. The needs have to be the same.”

 

Even the “Ameen” was necessary. I had read once that Shaitaan tried hard to prevent a worshipper from say the word. The one inserted at the end of Surah Fatiha in each ruk’u. For Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his blessed family) said that the angels also said it.

 

عن أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏أَنّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، ‏‏‏‏‏‏قَالَ:

‏‏‏‏ إِذَا أَمَّنَ الْإِمَامُ فَأَمِّنُوا،

‏‏‏‏‏‏فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ وَافَقَ تَأْمِينُهُ تَأْمِينَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ

 

As narrated by Hazrat Abu Huraira (ratu) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said,

“When the Imam says ‘Ameen’ say ‘Ameen’. Verily it is that the one whose ‘Ameen’ is in resonance with that of the angels, he will be forgiven that which had preceded in his sins.”

 

If the one in harmony with an angel was forgiven preceding sins, what lay in store for the one in synchronicity with those beloved to Allah!

 

The notion brought another prayer to my mind. It was also a prayer I had come across by chance. In the words of the blessed Imam Ali (as).

 

It was a long prayer. There were parts of it that struck my heart. One of those that I then memorized was this:

 

وَافْتَحِ اللّـهُمَّ لَنا مَصاريعَ الصَّباحِ بِمَفاتيحِ الرَّحْمَةِ وَالْفَلاحِ

 

O my Lord!

 

Open for us the doors of the morning with the keys of Mercy and Success.

 

My friend Amir had told me some time last year that he never used to pray the two ra’kat of Sunnah in the dawn prayer, Fajr. Until, that is, he read that those two raka’t were considered the most important.

 

I looked up the hadith related by Hazrat Bibi Aisha (ratu) who said that the concentration with which Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon him and his blessed family) prayed the two Sunnah of Fajr exceeded that of all his other prayers:

 

وعنها عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏

‏ "‏ركعتا الفجر خير من الدنيا وما فيها‏"‏

‏ وفي رواية لهما لأحب إلي من الدنيا جميعًا‏.‏

 

Hazrat Aishah (ratu) reported:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The two Rak'ah before the dawn (Fajr) prayer are better than this world and all it contains."

 

Another narration goes: "The two Rak'ah before the dawn (Fajr) prayer are dearer to me than the whole world."

 

I had been praying the Fajr prayer for a while but my concentration upon the two Sunnah because of the hadith began to exceed all my other prayers. In that prayer then, in my sajda, I would recite Bibi’s (as) prayer for forgiveness of my greatest sin and the Imam’s (as) prayer for Rahma and Falah as well. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

 

I would be alone. It would be quiet. The doors of the morning would literally be about to open. I wanted them to open for me with the Mercy of the Divine, good fortune and prosperity. I knew those keys were His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family who are the reason all goodness is gifted to this world by their Lord). They were the keys to everything!

 

As I uttered each word with the entire focus of my heart, it would make the beginning of each day extraordinary!

 

 

They feel no Fear or Grief

 

“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.

So indeed, the true lover does not abandon his beloved in any situation that might harm him.”

Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

أَلَآ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

Verily, the Friends of Allah, there will be no fear upon them and not they will grieve.

Surah Yunus, Verse 62

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Ala Inna auliya Allah e: Verily, the Friends of Allah, the Al Munkhala’eena, the ones who are detached from the demands of being human in total, Al Munsalekheena, the one who are far from the requirements of desires of their selves in totality...

 

La khauf-un alayhim wa la hum yahzanoon: there is no fear upon them nor do they feel grief because fear and sadness, they only come from the effects of the tabyat, (the secondary nature that is acquired from outside), and the pursuit of that which fulfills it.

 

Fear is an escapable feeling for a human being. Sadness is another. The Quran mentions both emotions together and repeatedly. More in its absence than its presence. As in His Friends do not feel either. I pride myself on not being scared by much in the world. Back in the day, my anger propelled that assumed arrogance to its heights. But anger cannot be exhibited in front of everyone.

 

There were times my relationship with my father was so badly ruptured that we didn’t see each other for months. That usually happened at the heel of an unpleasant incident. When I did have to see him again after that hiatus, I would feel fear. It would be so intense that I would not be able to stop crying for days before.

 

I was never alone in that interim. I remember on one occasion in particular that my friend Asma was with me. She would comfort me all day, tell me it would be fine, that she wouldn’t leave me alone with him. But it wouldn’t matter. That wouldn’t stem my tears because I would be scared of what would happen. It’s not like I thought it would be loud or violent. It was just the unknown of how he would react and would I be able to bear it.

 

My mother was dead. My sister had passed. I was the eldest. Moving from being the middle child till 26 and onwards to the eldest was the worst. It was strange that fact. With my sister alive, even though her father was different from mine, I wasn’t the eldest in my family because both husbands had been absent. But for him, in his eyes, in some form I must have been the eldest. I was his first child. Playing out both roles exactly like they are stereotyped was a drama and a half.

 

Woe upon me! How I wish I had known him then. My Prophet (salutations and greetings upon the one called Ar Rauf, the most kind and affectionate by His Lord Allah Ar Rauf) that I belonged to, the reason behind the Creation of everything, who worried for me, who felt my pain, who prayed for my suffering, of any kind, to end.

 

An Nahl, Verse 125: “Then pointed Allah Subhanahu towards the perfecting of honouring His Beloved (peace be upon and his family) and the majesty of his rank and the discipline of his etiquette and completing his wisdom and Messengerhood and making for everyone his kindness and his mercy as the gathering of kindness for all and sufficient for all Creation because he is sent in totality as mercy, Rahma, and he is the seal of the Prophethood and Messengerhood and the completer of the matter of religion and its perfection because the reason behind making the religion and the descent of the Books of Revelation and sending the Messengers, it is only to manifest his rank and his station, which is the inviting to the Essence of Tauheed, Tauheed Az Zaati.”

 

No one cared for me more than he did or even the way he did. If I had only known him then, he would have said to me too like he said to his best friend when he once felt fear, “Allah is with us.”

 

For me it was one of the most extraordinary incidents related in the Quran. Of course it was in At Tauba!

 

إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدۡ نَصَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِذۡ أَخۡرَجَهُ ٱلَّذِینَ كَفَرُوا۟ ثَانِیَ ٱثۡنَیۡنِ إِذۡ هُمَا فِی ٱلۡغَارِ إِذۡ یَقُولُ لِصَـٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحۡزَنۡ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَاۖ

فَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِینَتَهُۥ عَلَیۡهِ وَأَیَّدَهُۥ بِجُنُودࣲ لَّمۡ تَرَوۡهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ ٱلَّذِینَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلسُّفۡلَىٰۗ وَكَلِمَةُ ٱللَّهِ هِیَ ٱلۡعُلۡیَاۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِیزٌ حَكِیمٌ

 

If you didn’t help him, certainly, Allah helped him when drove him out those who disbelieved, the second (of) the two, when they both (were) in the cave, when he said to his companion,

"Do not grieve, indeed, Allah (is) with us."

Then sent down Allah His Tranquility upon him, and supported him with forces which you did not see, and made (the) word (of) those who disbelieved the lowest, while (the) Word (of) Allah it (is) the highest.

 

And Allah (is) All-Mighty, All-Wise.

 

Surah At Tauba, Verse 40

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Illa tansuruhu: If you didn’t help him i.e. his Prophet, (Nabi Kareem (peace and salutations upon him and his family by his Lord who loves him)), the one who was helped from Him…

 

Faqad nasarahullahu: then certainly help came from Allah, Ar Raqeeb, The Only One who watches over him. Remember the Help of Allah, O Beloved (peace and salutations upon him and his family by his Lord who loves him), at that time…

 

Id akhrajahu alladina kafaru: when he was driven out by those who denied the truth i.e. the people of Mecca from Mecca whilst he was…

 

Thani Ithnayn: the second of the two i.e. there was no one with him except one man and he was Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu) so they went towards the mountain and entered the cave and the enemy, they followed the tracks of their traces and reached that cave…

 

Id huma: when they were, hiding…

 

Fil ghar: in the cave so his companion, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) became distraught from being found out by the enemy, remember…

 

Id yaqoolu: when he was saying (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by His Exalted Lord) in that situation…

Li sahibi-hi la tahzan: to his companion, “Do not grieve on their knowing (about us) and do not despair of Allah’s Help and His Guardianship.

 

Inallaha: Indeed, Allah Ar Raqeeb, The One who is the Watcher, upon us, present (as a Companion)…

 

Ma’ana: is with us, He is Sufficient for us in help from their harm…

 

Fa anzala Allahu: so He desended, Allah Subhanahu, just as he spoke his words, Nabi Kareem (salutations and greetings upon you and your family by His Own Self)…

 

Sakeenatahu: His Serenity i.e. His Contentment and His Calmness…

 

Alayhi: upon him i.e. his companion…

 

Wa ayyadahu bi junood-in: and strengthened him with such armies i.e. the angels, safeguarding and fortressing (them), as guards for him…

 

Lam taroha: you cannot see with your eyes, such is that army.

 

Wa ja’ala: and He made, Subhanahu, by His Help and His strengthening, for Nabi Pak (salutations and greetings upon him and his family eternally)…

 

Kalimata alladeena kafaru: the word of the one who disbelieves i.e. that which they claimed and argued with him, the word they wanted to make their tradition…

 

As sufla: the lowest i.e. the lowermost in descent. It is not important and it is not paid attention to at all.

 

Wa kalimatullah: And the Word of Allah i.e. the Word of His Tauheed, One-ness, which He made appear through His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his family by the angels and their Creator)…

 

Hiya al-uliya: this is the uppermost, most exalted because Al Haqq is Exalted and no one else is exalted over Him...

 

Wallahu: And Allah is Al Qadir, The Dominant, Al Muqtadir, The Only One with Authority, upon whatsoever He wills…

Aziz-un: The One with all Power, Ghalib, The Only One who prevails in the helping of His Friends upon their enemies…

Hakeem-un: The Most Wise in all His Actions and His Planning.

 

But I didn’t know it then. That if one believed Allah was with them at all times, all fear and all sadness was dispelled!

At the random opening of pages in the shrines, sometimes I had come across the same page again and again. Sometimes the same Surahs. Never did I come across Yaseen, except once. On that day as I read what my heart knew in words alone, I chose the verses from the famous story of the village where three Prophets were sent, only to be mocked and rejected by its residents.

 

One man in the village who had brought faith speaks to the others. His name was Habeeb. I translated a few verses of his call to the others and this verse in particular sparked my interest. What did it mean for the ordinary to be told to enter Heaven? What did it mean to be forgiven? Not promised it but in fact be forgiven? What did it mean to be made of the honored?

 

قِیلَ ٱدۡخُلِ ٱلۡجَنَّةَۖ قَالَ یَـٰلَیۡتَ قَوۡمِی یَعۡلَمُونَ

بِمَا غَفَرَ لِی رَبِّی وَجَعَلَنِی مِنَ ٱلۡمُكۡرَمِینَ

 

It was said, "Enter Paradise." He said, "I wish my people knew.

Of how has forgiven me my Lord and placed me among the honored ones."

Surah Yaseen, Verse 26-27

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

So when they heard from Habeeb his advice and his admonition, they decided to kill him and destroy him so they trampled him by feet to the extent that his intestines came out from his back and he was in that state, that the unveiling of His Lord increased.

 

And Allah took possession of him, The King of One-ness and the special Favour of Allah drew him towards Him and the Sanctity of His Generosity surrounded him, such that…

 

Qeela: it was said by Him from Al Haqq: Leave your nature and shed your egoistic self…

 

Udkhulil Jannah: Enter Paradise i.e. the Atmosphere of One-ness which has not in it hardship or illness and no pain and tiredness and leave it and shed it and enter instantly union. After that union towards what he became united with…

 

Qala: Habeeb said, hoping and feeling sad for them after he received the breezes of Divine Union…

 

Ya’layta qaumi ya’maloon: alas, I wish my people knew...

 

Bima ghafara-li: of how He has forgiven me and revealed upon me and pulled me towards Him after that He hid from me by my egoistic self and erased from me my nature…

 

Wa ja’alani minal mukrameen: and He made me of the honoured ones. The Mukrameen, honoured ones, of the Al Amineen, the ones in peace, Al Fa’izeen, the ones successful, Al Mustabshireen, the ones who are receiver of glad tidings which are, and Ghaus Pak (ra) pointed to the verse:

 

لَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَیۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ یَحۡزَنُونَ

 

There will be no fear upon then and not they will grieve.

Surah Yunus, Verse 62

 

Something of the extraordinary existed for the ordinary!

I had seen multiple instances of the appearance of the verse of no grief and no sadness with other verses. I was intrigued by the possibility. For the Friends of God it was easy. No aspect of their tabyat, secondary nature acquired in this world, ever prevailed over their fitrat, the original nature bestowed by Subhanahu. What about the rest of us whose tabyat ruled?

What appeared sequentially in the next verse (10/63) after La khaufan alayhim… for the Auliya was indeed a revelation. The secret was held in taqwa!

 

ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَكَانُوا۟ یَتَّقُونَ

 

Those who believe and are conscious (of Allah),

Surah Yunus, Verse 63

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

And after that they detached from its fulfillment and freedom from its demands and they annihilated themselves in Allah’s Essence and they became what they became thereafter. There was nothing remaining in them which was the generator of (the feelings of) fear and unhappiness and peace and tranquility. That person then is not characterized by the example of these opposites and they are…

 

Alladina aamano: the ones who attained to faith in the beginning of their spiritual journey i.e. they were steadfast in the place of the Knowledge of Certainty.

 

Wa: And after they established their abode and were steadfast upon it…

 

Kanu yattaqoon: they were mindful of Allah and safeguarded themselves from the control of Power of Allah’s Attributes which create awe (Jalali) due to their occupation with the attraction of their desires and they were conscious of their bonds with the selection (of their choices).

 

There it was again. Allah’s Jalal, being fearful of Him. The “occupation with the attraction of desires and the selection of those choices.” Choices which most often never even took on any form of reality and almost always just remained fire and poison of possibilities!

 

It was up to the nafs to pick its path.

 

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا

‏قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا ‎

‏وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰها ‎

 

And He inspired it (to distinguish) its wickedness and its righteousness.

Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it,

And indeed, he fails who buries it (in darkness).

Surah Ash Shams, Verse 8-10

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Fa alhamaha fujuraha wa taqwaha: So He inspired it (the nafs) to both, wickedness and mindfulness, according to that which is placed in it from the forces of heavens as well as of the Earth.

 

Then He burdened it according to what it can bear so that

1.the one who is truthful can be differentiated from the one who is false and

2.the astray from the guided and

3.the denier of Truth from the believer, completing the wisdom, which is rooted in certainty, which reaches the Essence of Allah and which reflects the Dominance of His Power.

 

Qad aflaha man zakkaha: Indeed he was successful and prosperous due to the success He prospered from by receiving from Allah the highest ranks…

 

Man zakkaha: the one who cleansed his nafs from the vileness of the world and from the possibilities of the demands of its desires and its lusts.

 

Wa qad khaba: And he was in a loss and ruined himself…

 

Man dassaha: the one who prevented the nafs from reaching its higher level (from Ammara, corrupt to Mutma’inna, content) and made it wayward. He did this by persuading it to be disobedient and sinful, which was done due to the demands of its base nature, its lustful desires and the wickedness of the world. This persuasion is what makes it deserving of different kinds of losses and deprivation and humiliation.

 

Again possibilities! Again losses, deprivation, humiliation!

 

Subhanahu had defined Paradise for Habeeb as “the Atmosphere of One-ness which has not in it hardship or illness and no pain and tiredness” if he left his egoistic self and shed it. Then union was instant. Then there was no pain and sadness.

 

In my egoistic nafs, the root of pain and sadness was for two reasons. Lack of reliance and lack of gratitude. For every time I wasn’t grateful for a blessing, it was taken from me.

 

Continued on: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52649553016/in/datepos...

 

Done