29th Ramadhan 1431 Hijri

Bismillah.

O son, please excuse me, I am doing several postings in advance as I need to spend time cleaning almost every corner of the house. And for this year's Eid, I have pledged to mom that I will do the cooking in addition to my usual duties of decorating, entertaining guests and washing the dishes. So in the meantime, please ponder over this valuable message from noneother than Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani. He is making a few salient points here. The most important one is "cease to exist and come into existence through Him." If I may summarize it in my own words - let go and let God.

"In total trust (tawakkul) there is no attachment to material means (sabab) and in the affirmation of Unity (tawhid) there is no question of regarding anybody as the source of harm or benefit. You are total self (nafs kulliyaa), total passion (hawa kulli), total habit ('ada kulliyya). You do not have a clue about total trust and the affirmation of Unity."

"Bitterness then sweetness; then breaking then mending; then death then everlasting life. Humiliation then honor. Poverty then wealth. Ceasing to exist (in'idam) then being brought into existence (ijad) through Him, for sure."

"If you endure all this with patience, you will truly obtain what you wish from the Lord of Truth. Otherwise, nothing will come true for you. Anything that distracts you from Allah is unfortunate for you, even if it is fasting (sawm) and prayer (salat) beyond the performance of obligatory religious duties (fara'id) as those recommended by the Sunna. If you keep the fast to the extent that it is an obligatory duty (fard), then afterwards the hunger and thirst experienced in superrogatory (nafila) fasting distracts you from keeping your heart in the presence the Lord of Truth, from remaining vigilantly aware of Him, from living comfortably through Him and in His company and from nearness to Him, then you are the servant of the obstacle ('abd al-hijab), the servant of creatures, of your lower self and of your passions."

"The knower ('arif) stays with Allah beneath the banner (liwa') of His nearness, together with His knowledge ('ilm) and His secret (sirr) and he moves in accordance with His judgment and His decree. When he is incapable of action, he is turned without making himself turn, moved without making himself move, and brought to rest without bringing himself to rest. He comes to be numbered among those concerning whom Allah has said: "And we turned them over to the right, then over to the left." (Quran 18:18)

RAMADHAN KAREEM!

May Allah grant us the honor of witnessing Laylatul Qadar.

Ameen.