Take Everything Away…

Peace, one and all…

And here’s a Ramadan extra bonus!

Hakim Sana’i: Take Everything Away

Take everything away
and leave me alone with You.
Close every door
and open the one to You.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Every Word of Every Tongue…

Peace, one and all…

Here’s a bonus offering (buy one get one free)!!  This one’s again from Poetry Chaikhana and is by Fakhruddin Iraqi.  Enjoy…

Every Word of Every Tongue

Every word of every tongue is
Love telling a story to her own ears.
Every thought in every mind,
She whispers a secret to her own Self.
Every vision in every eye,
She shows her beauty to her own sight.
Every smile on every face,
She reveals her own joy for herself to enjoy.

Love courses through everything,
No, Love is everything.
How can you say, there is no love,
when nothing but Love exists?
All that you see has appeared because of Love.
All shines from Love,
All pulses with Love,
All flows from Love–
No, once again, all IS Love!

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Idol

Peace, one and all…

Here’s an interesting poem by Ahmad Jami (from the excellent Poetry Chaikhana).  Enjoy…

The Idol

As long as one tress-lip
     of the hair of your existence
     still remains
I fear the Sect
     of Self-worship
     will survive.
You claim “I broke
     the Idol of Illusion –
     I’m liberated!”
but I fear
     your Manifesto is itself
     an idol.

 

Ya Allah!  How true!  How much of my religion is really worship of my self?  May God protect me!

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman 

The Significance of Mosque Carpets…

Peace, one and all…

I was praying the Zuhr prayer this afternoon at my father-in-law’s local mosque and whilst I was prostrating (in sajdah) my eyes fell upon the small beads of the mosque carpet.  As I looked at them, they seemed so small and insignificant, hardly worthy of notice.  And yet, together what a lovely carpet they make!  It made me think about my relationship with Allah Ta’ala.  I’m just a fragile human being, weak and insignificant (whatever my nafs might say) and yet God loves me and has a plan for me!  Subhan Allah!

Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk!

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Baraka of Ramadan…

Peace, one and all…

It’s the end of the first week of Ramadan and time for a little reflection.  I’m currently sitting at a computer in my father-in-law’s house.  It’s on the outskirts of London.  The sun is shining and there are children playing nearby.  Allah!

Well, how can I sum up the first week of Ramadan 2006 (or perhaps I should say 1427)?  On the whole, I feel it’s been very positive.  After all, there’s only so long you can resist the Ramadan baraka!  I’ve been trying to focus on two things: my intentions and my actions.  As I said in a previous post, at the moment it’s more a case of observation, but I need to see before I can do. 

There are many things about myself I want to change.  I’m only human of course (and a very faulty one at that).  I feel positive though, with God’s help I know I’ll be able to change.  Perhaps we need such high points to help us through the lows?!?!

Ah…Ramadan, Ramadan!

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Schools In!!!

Peace, one and all…

It’s that time of year again! New students are arriving, making friends and experiencing the wonders of University life. Al hamdu lillah. I’ve always loved this time of year, as I tend to think of new beginnings, new horizons. I also enjoy meeting new students. Fresh faces, fresh ideas, new perspectives. It’s also a privilege to be involved in education. I can think of few things better than teaching, Allah!

One of my most pressing jobs this week has been ensuring that our new students have all of the bits of paper that they need to survive enrolment. If you’ve ever been to University you’ll know what I mean: endless queues, forms and the byzantine workings of bureaucracy. Oh the fun never ends! Al hamdu lillah, most of them have navigated their way through successfully. However, there are still a few stragglers coming in even now! One or two of them are part of the wider ‘Too Cool for School’ brigade. Teenagers eh!!

Ramadan has made it easier to deal with the week’s stresses and strains, al hamdu lillah. This is my third year here and this year feels much easier.

Wa akhiru da’wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Azhar Usman

Peace, one and all…

Wa salaam (my hat is tipping as I type) has given a link to a very amusing short video of the American Muslim comic Azhar Usman, in which he pretends to be an Indian TV presenter. The original link comes from Opinions of a Kashmiri Nomad (hats off again).

Well, as if it needed saying, racism cuts across all races.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Of Suhoor and The Hidden Workings of the Heart…

Peace, one and all…

Allah, Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and all that they contain.  Truly, nothing is worthy of worship except You.  O my Lord!  Grant healing to this poor servant of Yours.  Correct his character, forgive his sins and lift up his heart.  Amin.

It seems that the real war against the nafs has begun at last!  The last couple of days have been busy, as the Ramadan timetable begins in earnest.  Managing all of the various pulls on my time has not been easy, Ya Allah.  Al hamdu lillah, suhoor has been easy so far.  I enjoy waking everyone up (there are 3 adults in my home: myself, my wife and my brother-in-law, who lives with us).  Sharing suhoor together, and indeed sharing its preparation, is deeply satisfying because we’re all working towards the same end.

It’s the nature of human beings to find easy what they enjoy.  This is probably why suhoor is easier for me than other things.  I try to make sure that my intention in waking up is correct, but are we ever really sure about the hidden matters of the heart?  I don’t know about others, but there’s so much junk in there that it’s really hard to know.  I feel that all I can do at present is to see and to get my tongue working in the right way, with God’s permission.

I’ve been keeping up with my small wird (al hamdu lillah) and I’ve been trying my level best to watch what I say and do.  Habit, again, it’s all about breaking habitual behaviours and reactions.  Ya Allah, sometimes it feels like all I’m doing is observing.  Well, I suppose that observation is the first step and is what muraqabah literally means.  Perhaps I’m doing something right then?!?!

Ya Nur!  The untrained human heart is a dark place.  Ya Nur!  Grant me a light by which I might illuminate the hidden recesses of my own soul.  Ya Fatih!  Help me to victory over my lower self.  Help me to fight its insistent urgings and desires.  Ya Wadud!  Grant me a portion of Your Love, that I might win over my wayward self.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

I Had Supposed…

Peace, one and all…

Here’s another interesting poem from the excellent Poetry Chaikhana (I only popped in to the Tea House, didn’t stop for a brew, promise)!!  This one was written by Abu al-Husayn al-Nuri, a tenth century Sufi and associate of Junayd al-Baghdadi.  Enjoy (but absolutely no tea before sunset)!

I Had Supposed That, Having Passed Away…

I had supposed that, having passed away
From self in concentration, I should blaze
A path to Thee, but ah! No creature may
Draw near thee, save Thy appointed ways.
I cannot longer live, Lord, without Thee;
Thy Hand is everywhere: I may not flee.

Some have desired through hope to come to Thee,
And thou hast wrought in them their high design:
Lo! I have severed every thought from me,
And died to selfhood, that I might be Thine.
How long, my heart’s Beloved? I am spent:
I can no more endure this banishment.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Fiqh of Ramadan (Maliki & Hanafi)

Peace, one and all…

I’ve just come across some excellent lectures on the Fiqh of Ramadan over at Alexandalus (Jazak Allah).  You can download sessions on the Fiqh of Ramadan from the Maliki School and the Hanafi School (the one I try to follow myself).  Ma sha Allah, I listened to the Hanafi session on the way home yesterday and it was really useful (al hamdu lillah).

These classes originally came from the Zaytuna Institute, where more interesting things are available.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Four Kinds of People…

Peace, one and all…

The following passage is drawn from Shaykh Kabir Helminski’s excellent book, Living Presence.  You can read more of Shaykh Kabir’s work at The Threshold Society.  Enjoy.

‘First there are the Pretenders.  You will see them reading and talking about the Truth, even doing postures of meditation and the forms of worship, but their minds are often somewhere else.  And yet they are practising the ways of love, the fruits of love, as if they really knew love, and this will save them in the end.  They are learning that the One has many names.  May their imitation become reality.

Imam Haddad on Fasting…

Peace, one and all…

Check out the excellent article on fasting by Imam Abdullah al-Haddad (may God have mercy on him) over at Qays.org (hat tipping in progress).

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Too Old for Flyers…

Peace, one and all…

The year turns once more.  It’s late September and this year’s intake of new students will soon arrive.  I like this time of the year, as it reminds me of my own studies.  I know I’ll be very busy for the next couple of weeks, but busy is good (well, productive busy that is).

As such, the campus is full of newly arrived students, all madly attempting to find friends.  The local nightclubs, etc all have people on the streets handing out leaflets.  You know the sort of thing, I’m sure: ‘all you can drink for 50p’.  The flyers are all garishly coloured and all promote the latest alcohol promotion, or some such thing. 

Whenever anyone walks past these vendors, they get a fist-full of flyers shoved in their faces.  However, I’ve noticed that I don’t get offered these flyers any more.  This is a sign, I think.  A sign that I’m getting older; or, perhaps, a sign that others now consider me ‘past it’!!

Oh well…

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

I Left in the Morning…

Peace, one and all…

Ya Rabbi!  Grant me Your aid.  Let me speak truth always.  Let me work truth always.  O my Lord, other than Whom there is no God!  Lead me to deeds that please You, with an intention that is pure.

Here’s a little ditty that came to me on the train this morning.  Enjoy!

‘I left in the morning sun,

A song of hope upon my lips,

And thoughts of You in my heart.

Stepping out into the morning light,

My heart at rest for a journey begun.

And when, in moments all too rare, I see clearly,

I understand:

I’ve been walking my whole life’.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Spring Cleaning (Hey! It Isn’t Even Spring)!

Peace, one and all…

As regular visitors will have noticed, I’ve changed the Corner’s theme, and title too I might add.  A change is as good as a rest, so they say. 

Enjoy…

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

One Light…

Peace, one and all…

Here’s an intriguing poem by Mahmud Shabistari.  It seems to point towards some interesting conclusions.  It’s taken from Poetry Chaikhana (not sure I should be visiting a Tea house during the days of Ramadan, lol)!

Enjoy!

‘What are “I” and “You”?
Just lattices
In the niches of a lamp
Through which the One Light radiates.“I” and “You” are the veil
Between heaven and earth;
Lift this veil and you will see
How all sects and religions are one.

Lift this veil and you will ask –
When “I” and “You” do not exist
What is mosque?
What is synagogue?
What is fire temple?’

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

News Flash: All Quiet on the Western Front

Peace, one and all…

Ya Allah!  Forgive me, heal me and bring me back to the Path.  Grant me understanding of my own soul and the tawfiq to overcome my base desires!  There is no hope of success except with Your aid. 

It’s Ramadan Day 2 (well, it is in this part of Wales) and here’s the latest report from the battlefront!  Well, so far, all’s quiet on the western front; no sighting so far this morning of that old nafs of mine!  But perhaps this is merely the initial phoney war: I’m sure the real combat has yet to begin (though Shaitan is currently otherwise occupied, being chained by the neck, the war goes on).

Habit, routine, regularity – this seems to be the key to real growth.   I need to develop regular practice and remain consistently at the coal face, so to speak.  Habit’s an interesting word in this context because so much of our lives are lived in semi-conscious routine.  We do things because that’s our habit.  Food is an interesting case in point (particularly appropriate during Ramadan).  When I arrive at work, on an average morning, I usually have a cup of coffee.  During Ramadan, I’m not doing this and so for a while, my nafs makes me really want a coffee: it’s just habit.  But, as is the case with all habits, it doesn’t have to be this way.  I have freedom of will and can choose my responses.

Salat al-Fajr was very refreshing this morning, al hamdu lillah.  I read my prayers, along with my usual dhikr (it’s not very extensive, but again, regularity is the key).  I’ve also made the decision to begin a small wird (Allama Qutb al-Din al-Hanafi’s Prayers for Forgiveness: see here).  The aim is to read through the entire collection of 70 du’as every week (10 per day in other words).  Ya Allah, help me to maintain it and accept it as ibadah for Your sake.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

The Power of Reflection

Peace, one and all…

Regular Corner visitors may remember two recent posts on reflection in the Quran.  This is part of a wider project I’m working on, which aims to look at reflection in Islamic thought and practice.  I’m in the process of getting a first draft together.  I wanted to post some of the raw materials I hope to be including, insha Allah.  Enjoy!

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

‘In the presence of His Glory,
Closely watch your heart,
So your thoughts won’t shame you.
For He sees guilt, opinion, and desire
As plainly as a hair in pure milk’
Jalaluddin Rumi, Mathnawi I.3144-3145 

Sufyan al-Thawri

‘A person, if he is given to reflection [tafakkur], he will derive a lesson from everything’ 

Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Wasiti

‘So instill in yourself, O brother, shyness of God; Mighty and Majestic is He, even if it be for an hour of the day…Tell no one that you are engaged in such a deed for fear that the light of God’s vigilance [muraqabah] will be extinguished from your heart…Never let your heart be devoid of the realisation that God watches over you, for the heart’s delight [lies] in it; as does its tranquillity, fear, awe, shyness and honour’.Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman