Habib Umar bin Hafiz on being present and near with Allah

Art by Hamid Iqbal Khan

Bismillah

"I counsel you to have a present heart and submissive limbs in all your acts of worship for that is how you attain the fruits of those acts of worship and become invalid in their lights."

"I counsel you to be conscious of Allah or mindful of Allah in every state. Your heart should be unceasingly aware that he is watching you and near to you."

"Remind and admonish your lower self/nafs and call it to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good teaching. Acquaint it with the reward eternal bliss, honor and elevation and great fortune it will gain through obedience. Acquaint it with the painful torment and great shame that it will receive by abandoning obedience and committing the acts of disobedience." 

"I counsel you not to spend any portions of your time or a single breath except in doing something which will benefit you in the hereafter or in your life here, which will assist you in the hereafter or in your place of return."

"So this beneficial counsel that bear fruit, that of are beneficial and they can produce the result of turning to Allah and exposing oneself to forth pouring of divine grace."

"I counsel you to have a present heart. The meaning of presence is that it is feeling some meanings of Allah's Attributes or the meanings of His Name Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the attributes of His Greatness. When the heart reflects upon Allah's beautiful Names and Allah's sublime attributes and the meanings of His greatness and magnificence. Then at that point, the heart is present and for this reason presence with Allah only occurs in the various types of worship and acts of obedience."

"The cause of distant from Allah is heedlessness or unawareness."

"The cause of nearness is presence. As long as the heart is present with Allah, that person is increased in nearness and whenever a person is unaware of Allah, heedless of Allah, that person is severed and distant."

"Presence of heart then is its feeling the greatness of Allah, the meanings of His Names and Attributes and it is reflecting the sign of Allah, the magnificence and pondering on that which has been narrated from Allah and His Messenger."

"I advise you to have a present heart. The presence of heart and the submissiveness of limbs in all of your acts of worship. It means tranquility of the limbs."

"Submissiveness, khushuq means both presence, magnificence, reflecting on the meaning and pondering on the meaning and also the meaning implies fear, hope and shyness."

- Habib Umar bin Hafiz
As interpreted by Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya

Click at the link below to watch the full video:
http://abdulkarimyahya.com/2011/10/11/lesson-beneficial-counsels-lesson-4/
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http://hamidsart.redbubble.com/sets/155690/works/6503178-allah-art