Saturday, September 12, 2009

22nd Ramadhan 1430H (Ramadhan Tausiyah by Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani)

Bismillah.

If someone claims to love Allah, then seeks from Him something other than Himself, he is lying about his love for Him. As for one who has come to be loved (mahbub) who has arrived as a guest and be drawn near, he is told: "Ask, express your desires and say what you wish to have, for you are empowered." The lover (muhibb) is constrained, while the beloved (mahbub) is at ease. Deprivation for the lover, and gifts for the beloved. The servant continues to be a lover, for he is in a state of bewilderment (hayaman), separation and fragmentation, and of having to earn for the sake of nourishment. Then when the transformation occurs and he comes to be a beloved, the state of affairs is completely changed as far as he is concerned. He receives affectionate attention, comfort, ease, affluent provision and control over creatures. All of this comes by virtue of his patience and steadfastness in his state of love. The servant's friendship (suhba) is for Allah, and the love (mahabba) of Allah for His servant is not like the love of one creature for another. As for our Lord: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." (Quran 42:11)

You must practise vigilant awareness of Allah and oblige your lower self (nafs) to observe the rights (huquq) of the Lord of Truth and His creatures. If you wish for all that is good in this world and the hereafter, you must be keenly aware of the fact that Allah knows all about you. You must oblige your lower self to work. You must oblige it to carry out the commandments of Allah and forbid it to commit sins against Him. You must train it to endure with patience when misfortunes come your way, to be ready to accept the (divine) judgements and decrees when they come, and to be grateful when blessings arrive. If you do this, the obstacles will disappear from your path. You will be guaranteed the companionship of Allah. You will meet the Escort (rafiq) on the road and you will meet the Helper (mu'in). You will find the Treasure (kanz) that will follow you whichever way you turn. You need not worry about where you are, or where you have stopped, because wherever you alight, you will glean (ainama saqatta laqatta). You will have at your service the law (hukm), knowledge ('ilm), destiny (qadar), humans (ins), jinn and angels. All things will fear you, because of your fear of Allah, and all things will obey you, because of your obedience to Allah. When someone fears Allah, all things are afraid of him and when someone does not fear Him, He makes that person afraid of everything. When someone serves Allah, He makes everything serve him, because He does not allow one atom of the work of any servant of His to go to waste. 'As you pay allegiance, so shall allegiance be paid to you. According to how you are, so shall you be treated.'

O Allah, treat us with Your generosity, Your beneficence, Your tolerance and Your grace, in this world and the hereafter and: 'Give us in this world good, and good in the hereafter, and guard us against the torment of the fire!' (Quran 2:201)



Note: Extracts from lectures given by Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani in Ramadhan 545 A.H. Reference: The Sublime Revelation (Al-fath ar-Rabbani) Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland.

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