Show Compassion to All Creation

Peace, one and all…

‘Show compassion to all creation.  Nasr ibn Muhammad reports that Junayd related that there was a sheikh in Damascus called Abu Musa al-Qumasi who was a an of futuwwah [spiritual chivalry]; everyone praised him.  One day, the sheikh’s house collapsed on top of hi and his wife.  When people began to dig in the ruins, they found his wife first.  ’Leave me,’ she said.  ’Go and try to find the sheikh and save him.  He was sitting in a corner over there’.  They left the woman, dug where she had pointed, and found the sheikh.  ’Leave me,’ he said.  ’Go and save my wife’.  Each wanted the other to be saved.  That is the state of those who are together for the sake of Allah and who are friends and brothers in the name of Allah.  They are in that compassionate state at all times’
(Imam ibn al-Husayn al-Sulami, Kitab al-Futuwwah, The Book of Sufi Chivalry)

There is a Soul within your Soul

Peace, one and all…

‘There is a soul within your soul.  Seek that soul.
There is a gem within the mountain of your body.  Seek that mine.
O sufi traveller!  If that is what you seek,
Don’t seek outside.  Seek it from yourself’
(Mevlana Divan-i Kebir, 1822)

Black Night

Peace, one and all…

I want to share a very special qawwal with the wider world.  It is called ‘Black Night’ and was sung by Badar Miandad Khan.  May all who pass by be blessed.

Ma’as salama,

Abdur Rahman

Soothing Spiritual Music

Peace, one and all…

I wanted to share some beautiful music that I found on Vimeo with you.  Enjoy and may blessings be poured out upon all who pass by.

Ma’as salama,

Abdur Rahman

And Give Them Good Tidings

Peace, one and all…

The Prophet (alahi al-salatu wa al-salam) said, “Facilitate things for people, and do not make it hard for them and give them good tidings and do not make them run away’
(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith no. 69)

Three Within Three

Peace, one and all…

Imam Zayn al-`Abidin (God sanctify his noble soul) is reported to have said:

‘God has concealed three within three.  He has concealed His good pleasure in His obedience; therefore, despise no act of obedience lest His good pleasure be within it.  And He has concealed His abhorrence in acts of rebellion against Him; therefore, underestimate no act of rebellion lest His abhorrence be therein.  And He has concealed His friends in His creation; therefore, despise none of His creatures, for he may be a friend of God’

How You Come to Me Today

Peace, one and all…

A new day begins.
How will You come to me today, Beloved?
In which new way
will You reveal Yourself ?

How strange You are
and how wonderful,
that You reveal Yourself
even as You hide Yourself away!

In presence and absence,
through all time and space,
wheresoever I turn there You are;
Beloved, how You come to me today!

(Abdur Rahman, 10th May 2010)

Surah al-Nazi’at

Peace, one and all…

A beautiful recitation of the 79th chapter of the Quran, Surah al-Nazi`at (the text is also available online).

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Response

Peace, one and all…

 

The Messenger of God (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) said:

‘Fear Allah [or 'be conscious of God'] wherever you may be; follow up an evil deed with a good one which will wipe (the former) out, and behave good-naturedly towards people’
(Recorded by Imam al-Tirmidhi; source)

Related posts:

• Wherever You May Be…
• That Which Gives You Life
• And Whoever Submits his Face
• Learning to Talk, Learning to Love
• Learning to Talk as a Muslim (part 2)
• Learning to Talk

Wherever You May Be…

Peace, one and all…

‘And He is with you wherever you may be’ (Surah Hadid 57:4; source)

Escape Route

Peace, one and all…

‘Scattering petals, swishing red wine in the ample cup -
through the torn rooftop of the universe we launch a new way.

Should anguish form a death-squad to wipe out lovers
all of us at the wine-house would rebel, and yank the chair out from under them.

We sloshed rose-water into the wine-cup
packed sugar in the censer of the fragrant wind…

When the sweet lute is at hand, poet, play sweetly
so that waving our hands we may shout a ghazal, and dancing we may toss our heads.

O wind, blow the dust of our lives into the courtyard of the Beautiful
that standing among his fair ones we may gaze upon the King.

One brags about his intellect, another of his grace and charm -
but what are these before the sovereign Judge?

If you want to get back to Eden, come with us to the wine-house.
In time, we shall draw you up: from the dregs of the cup to the clear pool of Paradise.

These days in Shiraz, word-craft and melodious speech are not in fashion.
Hafiz, let’s make our escape, and cast ourselves into another realm’.

(Hafiz Shirazi, trans. by Jeffrey Einboden and John Slater)

Tere Dar Se Nisbat

Peace, one and all…

This one of my favourite qawwals, sung by Kurban Farid Shahi and group.  Spiritual music has a unique ability to pierce our hearts. This particular qawwal strongly reminds me that God’s door is my true connection, my true home.  May all who pass by this day be blessed. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

There is but one Way

Peace, one and all…

There is but one Way.  There is but one Truth.  And yet, the means by which this way, this truth, is realised are as numberless as the grains of sand upon the shore.  There are as many one ways as there are people to walk them.  There are as many one truths as there are eyes to see, and hearts to feel.

In this realm of multiplicity, the singular, unique and living truth is filtered through all the minds, hearts and voices of creation. That is, language is a function of duality, of multiplicity, in that languages are attempts to strike a balance between personal and shared meanings.  The truth itself is wordless, in that its origin lies beyond our human world.  As truth descends into this realm it needs must be expressed in a given time, in a given language, in a given context.  And, because each human ‘filter’ may be more or less obstructed in their ability to see and hear, so the amount of ‘pure truth’ they can perceive and express differs.

For me, this means several things.  Firstly, it reminds me of my duty to listen lest I inadvertently spurn some particle of truth. Secondly, it underlines the necessity for humility.  My words and ideas and meanings are limited; I do not perceive truth clearly.  Therefore, others may well understand things with far greater clarity than I do.  Even these words I now write are partial, limited, temporal.  They mark out this moment’s attempt to understand and speak truth – they do not capture Truth Itself.  Thirdly, multiplicity exists within unity, within oneness. In our own unique ways, we all attempt to express this oneness.

And may that Oneness be forever exalted.

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

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

And Whoever Submits His Face…

Peace, one and all…

‘And whoever submits his face to Allah while he is a doer of good – then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold. And to Allah will be the outcome of [all] matters’
(Surah Luqman 31:22; source)

Related Posts

• The Face of your Lord will Abide
• A Momentary Re-alignment of Spirit and Flesh
• Latter Days
• Seeing Others?
• The Moon of My Memories
• A Sea of Faces
• ‘Facing’ Spirituality

Ruzi Seb (Night & Day)

Peace, one and all…

Here is a beautiful Turkish religious song (an ilahi).  Although I don’t speak Turkish, I find myself wandering along all sorts of interesting paths as I listen to it.  At any rate, here it is for your listening pleasure.  May God bless us all this day.

Image source

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

That Which Gives You Life

Peace, one and all…

‘O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. And know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that to Him you will be gathered’ (Surah al-`Anfal 8:24; source; al-tafsir.com)

Prayers for Exam Success

Peace, one and all…

With the conclusion of this academic year’s teaching, our students are busy preparing for their exams.  May Allah bless all of them.  May their exams and assignments be blessed.  May they be blessed in everything that they go on to do and be.  May they do well in spite of all my faults as a teacher.

‘May this moment be blessed.  May goodness be opened and may evil be dispelled.  May our humble plea be accepted in the Court of Honour; May the Most Glorious God purify and fill our hearts with the Light of His Greatest Name.  May the hearts of the lovers be opened.  By the breath of our master Mevlana, by the secret of Shams and Weled, by the holy light of Muhammad, by the generosity of Imam Ali, and the intercession of Muhammad, the unlettered prophet, mercy to all the worlds.  May we say Hu, Huuu…’

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Chaap Tilak

Peace, one and all…

Here is a beautiful qawwal, attributed to Amir Khusro, entitled ‘Chaap Tilak’.  This beautiful version is by Jafar Husayn Khan, one of my favourite qawwals.

Enjoy and may Allah bless all who pass by.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman