What is more intense

An inquirer asked me: “Which one is more intense, the fire of fear or the fire of longing?”

[I said:] “The fire of fear for the seeker and the fire of longing for one who is sought after. These are two different things. Which of the two fires do you have, O inquirer?”

– Ghwath al Azam rahimahu Llah –

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Worthy

Do good to those who are worthy and to those who are not, so that God gives to you when you are worthy and when you are not.

– Sayyiduna ‘Abdul Qadir al-Jilani رحمه الله –

End of the Month of Ramadan

The month of Ramadān is the month of serenity and purity [shahr as-safā’], the month of fulfillment and fidelity [shahr al-wafā’]. It is the month of those who practice the remembrance of their Lord [shahr adh-dhākirīn], the month of those who endure with patience [shahr as-sabirīn], and the month of those who are honest and truthful [shahr as-sadiqīn]. So, if it does not have the effect of improving your heart — if it does not induce you to desist from the rebellious acts against your Lord, and does not make you avoid the company of troublemakers and criminals — what else can exert a positive influence on your heart? What goodness can be hoped for in a case like yours? What redeeming quality can survive in someone like you? What successful outcome can be expected from an individual like you?

You had better pay attention, O miserable wretch, and try to learn from what has happened to you. Come to your senses, wake up from your slumber, shake off your heedless indifference, and take a good hard look at what has befallen you. However little of the month you still have left, you must seize every opportunity for repentance [tawba] and contrition [ināba]. Take full advantage of the time that is still available for seeking forgiveness [istighfār] and practicing worshipful obedience [tā’a]. If you follow this advice, you may yet be one of those who receive the blessings of mercy [rahma] an compassionate grace [ra’fa].

Then, when the month of Ramadān comes to its close, you should bid it farewell with the shedding of copious tears. You should weep over your unfortunate self, while moaning and wailing and uttering plaintive cries of lamentation. For, as you must be well aware, many a keeper of the fast [sā’im] will never keep another fast, and many a keeper of the vigil [qā’im] will never keep vigil again.

The worker will be paid his wages, once he has finished his work, and we have now finished the work [required of us in the month of Ramadan]. But if only I knew for certain whether our fasting [siyām] and our vigil [qiyām] have been accepted, or whether they be used to slap us in our faces! If only I knew for certain which of us has been accepted, so that we may congratulate him, and which of us has been rejected, so that we may offer him our condolences!

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) once said:

There is many a one who keeps the fast by day, yet who gets nothing out of his fasting but hunger and thirst. And there is many a one who spends the night in vigil and prayer, yet who gets nothing from his vigil other than insomnia.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) also said that on the final night of the month everyone would be forgiven. His Companions asked if this night was Laylat al-Qadr.

He replied:

No, do you not see that when workers finish their work they are paid their wages in full?’

– Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq – Sufficient Provision for the Seekers of the Path of Truth by Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Fear Almighty Allah.

Fear Almighty Allah. Fear none but Allah. Always turn towards Him. Ask all your wishes from Allah. Do not turn to any besides Allah. Do not have faith in any but in Allah. Remain firm on Tauheed (belief in One Allah).

There is no salvation without Tawhid. When the heart becomes linked with Allah then nothing else seems to look good to him. I have reached the level of True Love. It is a domain where worldly love has no place.

– Shaykh Abdul Qadiral- Jilani (Sultan al -Awliyah) rahimahu Llah –

Woe to you!

Woe to you!
You claim to be a Sufi,
yet you are impure!

– Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

The lover & The Beloved

The lover is tired, whereas the Beloved is at rest.
The lover is a seeker, whereas the Beloved is sought after

– Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (rahimahu Llah)

Rely, and it becomes your God!

Everything that you rely on, every person you afraid of or you keep that trust in, becomes your God.

– Hazrat Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah

Oobvious evidence of betrayal

You carry on committing sins, have you no fear. This is obvious evidence of betrayal. Beware; safeguard yourself, you may be caught unaware when your allotted time is up.

– Sayyiduna Ghawth al-Azam Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

When a person commits a sin…

When a person commits a sin, he closes the doors, draws the veils and hides from the creation and goes against the commands of the creator in private, and then the creator says,

O! Son of Adam (‘alayhi sallam) you have regarded me the least amongst those that can see you because you found it necessary to hide yourself from the creation, yet you have not shown modesty and shame even equivalent to that of the creation towards me.

– Sayyiduna Ghawth Al Azam Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

The Majestic Supplication of Hazrat Abdul Qadir al- Jilani (rahimahu Llah)

Bismillah i’r Rahman i’r Rahim
Allahumma inni as’aluka
bi-Sirri-dh-Dhaati wa bi-Dhaat-is-Sirri
Huwa Anta wa Anta Huwa
ihtajabtu bi-Nurillah
wa bi-Nuri ‘Arshillah
wa bi-kulli Ismillah
min ‘aduwwee wa ‘aduwwillah
bi maa’ati alfi
Laa hawla walaa quwwata illaa Billah
khatamtu ‘alaa nafsi wa ‘alaa ahli
wa ‘alaa kulli shay-in A’taaneehi Rabbi
bi-Khaatamillahi’l manee’illadhi
khatama bihi aqtaar-as-samaawaati wa’l ard, wa
Hasbunallahu wa Ni’mal Wakil
Ni’mal Mawlaa wa Ni’man Naseer
Wa laa hawla walaa quwwata illaa Billahi’l ‘Aliyyi’l ‘Azim
wa Sallallahu ‘alaa Sayyidina Muhammad-in
wa ‘alaa aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallama ajma’een.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. (1:1)
O Allah! I ask of You
for the sake of the Mystery of the Essence
and for the sake of the Essence of the Mystery,
both the Essence and the Mystery being Yours,
that may I be protected by the Sacred Light of Allah,
by the Light of the Throne of Allah
and by all the Names of Allah
from my enemies and from all the devils (enemies of Allah),
(I supplicate to You O Allah)
with a hundred thousand times recitation of (this glorification of Yours):
“There is no strength nor power except with Allah”.
I have sealed myself and my family
and all the things that my Lord has given me,
with the impregnable seal of Allah with which
He has sealed all the regions of the heavens and the earth, and
Allah is sufficient for us and what an excellent Trustee is He. (3:173)
What an Excellent Patron and what an Excellent Helper. (8:40)
“And there is no strength nor power except with Allah, the Exalted, the Almighty”.
And may Allah bestow blessings and peace on our master Sayyidina Muhammad,
on his family and all his companions,

True servitude means…

There is Allah, and there is your own self [nafsuka], and you must address the situation. The self is the opponent and enemy of Allah. All things are subordinate to Allah, and the self really belongs to Him as a creature and a possession, but the self entertains presumptions and aspirations bound up with carnal appetite and sensual desire. So if you ally yourself with the divine Truth in opposition and hostility toward the self, you will be for Allah’s sake an adversary to your own self. As Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) said to David (peace be upon him):

O David, I am your indispensable support, so hold fast to your support. True servitude means being an adversary to your own self.

– Shaykh Sayyid Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (Ghawth al-Adham) rahimahu Llah –

I will walk…

If I were to visit RasulUllah ﷺ
I will walk to Madina barefoot

– Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani رحمة الله عليه –

Beneficial man

The Best Of Men Is The Person Who Is Most Beneficial To Others.

– Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (rahimahu Llah)

Alim…

‘When an Alim is not an ascetic then, he is a punishment upon those that follow him.’

– Sultan al-Awliyah Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

The Spiritual Fasting

The Spiritual Fasting by Shaykh Abdul’ Qadir al-Jaylani {May Allah sanctify his secrets} from the book = The Secret of the Secrets = Sirr al-Asraar.

He said: “The fasting prescribed by this Islamic way of Life is to abstain from eating and drinking and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset, while spiritual fasting is, in addition, to protect all the senses and thoughts from all that is unlawful. It is to abandon all that is disharmonious, inwardly as well as outwardly.

The slightest breach of that intention breaks the fast. Religious fasting is limited by time, while spiritual fasting is forever and lasts throughout one’s temporal and eternal life. This is true fasting.

Our chief the Prophet {ﷺ} says:

‘There are many of those who fast who get only hunger and thirst for their efforts and no other benefit’. There are also those who break their fast when they eat, and those whose fast continues even after they have eaten. These are the ones who keep their senses and thoughts free of evil and their hands and their tongues from hurting others. It is for these that Allah Most High promises, ‘Fasting is a deed done for My sake, and I am the one who gives its reward.’ About the two kinds of fasting, our Master the Prophet {ﷺ} says:

‘The one who fasts has two satisfactions. One is when he breaks his fast at the end of the day. The other is when he sees.’

those who know the outer form of the religion say that the first satisfaction of the one who fasts is the pleasure of eating after a day of fasting, and the meaning of the satisfaction ‘when he sees’ is when someone who fasted the whole month of Ramadan sees the new moon marking the end of the fast and beginning the festivities of the holiday. The ones who know the inner meaning of fasting say that the joy of breaking the fast is the day that the believer will enter Paradise and partake of the delights therein, and the meaning of the greater joy of seeing is when the faithful sees the truth of Allah with the secret eye of his heart.

Worthier than these two kinds of fasting is the fast of truth, which is preventing the heart from worshiping anything other than the Essence of Allah. It is performed by rendering the eye of the heart blind to all that exists, even in the secret realms outside of this world, except the love of Allah. For although Allah has created all and everything for man, he has created man only for Himself, and He says ‘Man is My secret and I am his secret’. That secret is a light from the Divine light of Allah. It is the center of the heart, made out of the finest matter. It is the soul which knows all the secret truths; it is the secret connection between the created one and his Creator. That secret does not love nor lean towards anything other than Allah.

There is nothing worthy to wish for, there is no other goal, no other beloved in this world and in the hereafter, except Allah. If an atom of anything other than the love of Allah enters the heart, the fast of truth, the true fast, is broken. Then one has to make it up, to revive that wish and intention, to return back to His love, here and in the hereafter. For Allah says: ‘Fasting is only for Me, and only I give its reward’.

Just start doing good…

To start something good is your job and to see it completed is the work of your Creator.

– Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Lovers Hearts…

The hearts of lovers have eyes.They see what other watchers fail to see.
With featherless wings they flyto the Realm of the Lord of the Worlds.

– Taken from Kitab Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al-Anwar of Sultan al-Awliya’ Sayyiduna Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani RadiAllahu Anhu

The lover’s eyes

The lover has no eyes with which he looks at other than his Beloved

— Sayyiduna ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Who helps you to achieve success

The person who backbites and speaks ill of us are actually our success because they pay homage to us by writing their good deeds into our deed books.

– Shaykh Sayyid Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Fellowship

Seek the fellowship of those who enjoy fellowship with the Lord.

– Shaykh Abd Al Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Equal indifference

Do not let compliments go to your head, and do not attach importance to critical comments that may be made about you. Let praise and blame be matters of equal indifference as far as you are concerned.

– Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Different levels of remembrance and its ways

There are different levels of remembrance and each has different ways. Some are expressed outwardly with audible voice, some felt inwardly, silently, from the centre of the heart. At the beginning one should declare in words what one remembers. Then stage by stage the remembrance spreads throughout one’s being descending to the heart then rising to the soul, then still further it reaches the realm of the secrets, further to the hidden; to the most hidden of the hidden. How far the remembrance penetrates, the level it reaches, depends solely on the extent to which Allāh in His bounty has guided one.

– Shaykh ‘Abdu’l-Qādir al-Gīlānī rahimahu Llah –

Adopt patience

Adopt patience for this world is an assembly of troubles and calamities.

– Hazrat Abdul Qadir al-Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Mahabba

When asked about love [mahabba], the Shaikh (may Allah be well pleased with him) said: “It is a disturbance [tashwish] that affects the heart. It is inspired by the Beloved [Mahbub], by contrast with Whom this world comes to be like the ring of a seal, or a funeral wake. Love is an intoxication that has no corresponding sobriety. It is total devotion to the Beloved, in every respect, both in private and in public, with a self-effacing predilection. It is a natural impulse, not an affectation.

“Love is blindness to everything other than Beloved, due to solicitude for Him. It is also blindness to the Beloved Himself, due to a profound respect for Him. It is therefore total blindness. Lovers [muhibbun] are too drunk to get sober, except through direct vision of the Beloved. They are too sick to be cured, except by the sight of the One they seek. They are too distressed to be consoled, except by their Master [Mawla]. They can find no refuge, except in the remembrance of Him. They do not respond to anyone, except to His summoner.

“As Majnun [the crazy lover of] Layla put it:
My relatives all blame me for loving Layla:
my brother, my cousins, my aunt….”

– Sultan ul-Awliyah Sayyid Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (QadasAllahu sirrah)

‘Id of Ghauš-e-A’ẓam ۡrahimahu Llah

There is a great lesson for us in each and every act of Auliyā of Allah.
 Our Ghauš-e-A’ẓam is a great Walī of Allah but still he expressed fear and humility on the occasion of ‘Id for our guidance. Therefore, he said in his Persian couplets:

Khalq gawīd keh fardā Rauz-e-Eid ast
Khūshī darrūḥ-e-ĥar Momin padīd ast
Darān rauzay keh bā-Īmān bamīram
Mirā dar mulk khud-ān Rauz-e-Eid ast

‘People are saying ‘Tomorrow is ‘Id! Tomorrow is ‘Id!’ and everyone is happy, but the day when I leave this world with my faith will actually be the day of ‘Id for me.’

Look at his piety and asceticism! He holds an extremely great status, and is the sovereign of all Auliyā ‘& yet so humble!

There is a warning here for us, and we are being taught,

Beware! Don’t be heedless regarding your faith; always remain concerned about its safety lest you lose your faith due to your heedlessness and sins.

Peace be upon you, o Ramadan!

Peace be upon you, O month of daytime fasting!
Peace be upon you, O month of nighttime vigil!
Peace be upon you, O month of true faith!
Peace be upon you, O month of the Qur’an!
Peace be upon you, O month of the radiant lights!
Peace be upon you, O month of forgiveness and pardon!
Peace be upon you, O month of the ascending steps of Paradise and of salvation from the descending steps of Hell!
Peace be upon you, O month of the worshipful penitents!
Peace be upon you, O month of those who know from spiritual experience!
Peace be upon you, O month of those who exercise discriminating judgment!
Peace be upon you, O month of safety and security!
You are a prison for disobedient sinners, and for the truly devout you are a place of comfort.

Peace be upon the lamps and lanterns that shine so bright! Peace be upon the sleepless eyes, and upon the streaming tears! Peace be upon the illuminated niches in the mosques, and upon the tears that are spilled and shed! Peace be upon the sighs that arise from hearts that are aflame!

[Excerpts from Shaykh Abd Al Qadir Al Jilani’s book Sufficient Provision for the Seekers of the Path of Truth, Vol. 3]

Saying goodbye to Ramadan

When the month of Ramadan comes to its close, you should bid it farewell with the shedding of copious tears. You should weep over your unfortunate self, while moaning and wailing and uttering plaintive cries of lamentation. For, you must be well aware, many a keeper of the fast will never keep another fast, and many a keeper of the vigil will never keep vigil again.

The worker will be paid his wages, once he has finished his work, and we have now finished the work [required of us in the month of Ramadan]. But if only I knew for certain whether our fasting and our vigil have been accepted, or whether they will be used to slap us in our faces! If only I knew for certain which of us has been accepted, so that we may congratulate him, and which of us has been rejected, so that we may offer him our condolences!

[Excerpts from Shaykh Abd Al Qadir Al Jilani’s book Sufficient Provision for the Seekers of the Path of Truth, Vol. 3]

Message for the students

Know O! Student, that the beginning of the path is patience and its end is thankfulness. Its beginning is difficulty and its end is bliss.

Its beginning is toil and weariness and its end is opening, unveiling and arrival at the ultimate goal which is gnosis of Allah, arrival to Him, being comforted by Him and standing in His Noble Presence with His angels standing before Him.

The one who makes gracious patience the foundation of all his affairs turns to every goodness, reaches everything that he hopes for and wins all that he seeks.

– “Jala’ Al-Khawatir, The Removal of Cares” by Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani rahimahu Llah –

Du’a to be recited when breaking the fast

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is reported as having said:

When one of you is keeping the fast, and the time for his evening meal arrives, let him say:

Bismillah.Allahumma lakasumtwa ‘ala rizqikaaftartsubhanakawa bi-hamdik.Allahumma taqabbal minnafa-innakaAnta’s-Sami’ u’l-Alim.

In the Name of Allah.O Allah, for Your sake I have fasted,and on Your sustenanceI have broken fast.Glory be to Youand with Your praise!O Allah, accept from us,for You are the All-Hearing,the All-Knowing.

[From Shaykh Abd Al Qadir Al Jilani’s book Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq, Volume 1]

Ramadans five letters

Oh young man, the word Ramadan consists of five letters: ‘ra’, ‘meem’, ‘dhad’, ‘alif’, and ‘noon’.

• The ‘Ra’ is derived from Rahma (Mercy),
• The ‘Meem’ is derived from Mujazat (Recompense), Mahabba (Love) and Minna (Favor),
• The ‘dhaad’ from dhaman lilthawab (assurance of reward),
• The ‘Alif’ from Ulfa (Affinity) and Qurb (Nearness)
• The ‘Noon’ from Nur (Light) and Nawal (the receiving of grace).

If you give this month its due act properly during it, these things will come to you from the True One (Allah ta’ala).

– Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani al-Hanbali radiAllahu ‘anhu –