True Love

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّحْمَٰنُ وُدًّا


On those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, will (Allah) Most Gracious bestow love. (Surah Mariam, aayah 98)

***

You may think that the man is nothing to fear
And that his call to you may seem very sincere
But in his mind you are nothing but toy
And in his eyes is lust, they only know to leer

Keep your heart guarded from this one
He only thinks about his gain and fun
Your feelings are but his background noise
Abandon you he will when with you he is done

For all his good looks and all his wealth
Know that a day is creeping in all its stealth
When riches will be gone and looks will fade
When in the grave he will go along with his health

Why waste time behind such a futile affair
When for you is the One who is always aware
The one who will forgive all of your mistakes
The one who will not be fickle in His care

Allah the One Lord nourishes you every day
Allowing you to touch and smell, hear and see and say
Undeserving we are of His continuous gifts
Yet His nurturing continues even when we disobey

Turn your heart to Allah, the One who is the Most Loving
He is the Lord of all lords, the King of all kings
Allow your heart to burn with the fires of True Love
And watch, like a pheonix, it will rise once again and sing

The Most Merciful and His Guide

When I was lost in the darkness of falsehood
The Most Merciful save me from destruction
Opened my eyes He did
To a world that was not for me
And to another world
That could be mine
So kind and loving He is
To have chosen me
When there were so many others
He who know all full well knows my flaws
All aware He is that alone I fall
And the path from me will once more be lost
My Creator Most High guides me to the one
His slave best suited to guide my saved soul
To guide me through the mountains and valleys
Through the barren deserts and the stormy seas
To brighten darkened lane
To show me easier routes
To keep me away from hazardous paths

***

My guide is wise and learned
Many has he led before me
And many shall he lead
As this is his post and pleasure
My guide is kind and patient
His words are always true
“The path may be hard
“But on it you must and can tread”
His words give courage
So follow him I do
Although at times the journey is hard
My legs tire and my heart aches
And no longer can I see my guide
But only to the ground must I look
Where I see the trail he set forth for me
As long as I wish to follow
My guide will patiently lead
As long as I have a yearning
His footsteps are there for me to see

Guide of my Soul

The Caravanserai

One of my favourite nasheed, deep meaning within it Masha Allah. Whether we want to admit it or not... we all need someone's footsteps to follow so that we learn how to love and worship without losing our way. We just have to really yearn and seek with trust in Allah, and we will be found, insha Allah. This I have experienced. Alhamdu Lillah.

*** 

Caravanserai by Talib-al-Habib

And so this traveller
Lost and weary wandering far from home
Came at last upon your caravanserai
And where the ocean meet the sea
In grief and anguish he did weep
So long I've wandered and yet still I know not what I seek
And yet reflected in your eyes I see a truth that splits the night
So can you whisper to me
The secret of what worship is

So you said: La ilaha ilallah Allahu Allahu

You cannot worship until you love
You cannot love until you feel
You cannot feel until you understand
You can't understand until you learn
You cannot learn until you have been found
Can't be found until you seek
You will not seek nor find, until you yearn
And you will not yearn till you remember
So remember

La ilaha ilallah Allahu Allahu

The traveller's heart stood and awoke
And borne aloft on wings of hope
There held a deeper mystery glimmering beneath your words
He cast himself before your feet
I know that, that of which you speak
Cannot be found by seeking
But only seekers find it
Yet in the footsteps that you make
I see the path that I must take
So may I follow you and learn the secrets that you keep

You said: Remember and you will yearn
Yearn and you will seek
Seek, seek you will be found
And when you're found then you will learn
When you learn then you will understand
Understand and you will feel
When you feel Him then you will love
And when you love then you will worship
Then you worship

La ilaha ilallah Allahu Allahu

The Canary and His Bath

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ

Oh you who Believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are the truthful ones.

Surah At-Tawbah, ayah 119

Along with a cat, I have six birds: three budgies, one canary, and two latest which were given as a hadiyah, finches. I had the canary next to the budgies since I bought him, about three months or so, and not once did he take a bath, which I found really odd. All the other canaries that I ever looked after took baths! What was wrong with this one? In any case he was perfectly healthy and sang from sunrise to sunset, so I didn’t mind much. And, my budgies never took baths either, in fact, they hardly even drink water. Strange, but they too are as healthy as can be.

Now once the two finches came, I decided to put the canary next to them. The finches are totally different; they love to take baths, every day in fact. Now one positive effect I saw today was that out of the blue, the canary began to take a bath! He literally sat in his water bowl, tossing the water about with his beak, waggling his tail and flapping his wings, water flying out of the cage and splashing on me. You could see he was enjoying his bath, he kept leaving his bath, and then once again hopping back in.

A few hours later, I was listening to a poem of Hazrat Hakeem Akhtar saheb, and paused at this verse:

Mujhay kuch Khabar naheen thi tera dard kya hai ya Rab
Tere ‘aashiqon sai seekha tere sang dar se marna

"I had not a clue what Your love was oh Lord
I have learnt from your lovers to die at Your doorstep"

And it struck me, that the same way the canary seemingly learnt how to take a bath from just being next to the finches cage, in the same way a seeker will learn how to love Allah, live by His commands and die with belief in Him by being close to those who are Allah’s lovers. The seeker will see the overwhelming love an ‘aashiq feels when the word Allah is mentioned, and in the seeker’s heart will grow the yearning as well, that “I want this as well, I want to learn to love like he does, I want to taste this sweetness he tastes.” And with continuous connection and contact with an ‘aashiq, Allah Ta’aala will turn the seeker into an ‘aashiq as well with His karam.

I don't Know Best... ALLAH does!

 إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ إِنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ الْجَهْرَ وَمَا يَخْفَىٰ

Except what Allah, may will, He knows what is apparent and what is hidden. (Suratul-A'laa, aayah 7)

Just last Saturday night I was chatting with my father on the phone. When he asked about the weather in my city of residence, I replied that it is so hot here that you can't even think of wearing shoes, let alone wearing socks! Such certainty I was filled with, that I even added that even if it rained in this city, it was still hot and humid outside.

Well I was proven wrong just the next day.

From Sunday, to Monday, until now Tuesday morning, it has been cold, so cold that I am contemplating socks. My husband decided to take a woolen shawl before going to work. I am drinking a hot beverage while typing this.

I guess this proves one thing: I don't know best... ALLAH does! It's almost as if the cold weather was sent just to prove me wrong. And Alhamdu Lillah, I have learnt my lesson.

Tests and Trials

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنْفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ
الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ

And surely We will test you with something of fear and hunger and of loss of wealth and life and fruits. And glad tidings are for the patient.
Those whom when misfortune strikes them say "Verily we are from Allah and to Him is our return."
These are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and they are the ones who a guided

(Suratul Baqarah, ayaat 155-157)

Throughout our lives, countless times we hear the incidents that took place with Rasulullah Salla Allahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam and his companions. Mocked, jeered at, insulted, tortured, even murdered. We listen to these tales, and shed tears, and perhaps keep the feeling of anguish in our hearts for an hour, maybe a day. After that, life goes back to normal. We become busy with our daily chores, earning money, eating, sleeping, and our dutiful ‘ibaadat.

Then a time has to come when we will be tested. This is not a phenomenon, not something out of the blue, or something that just happens to ‘other people’. Allah Ta’aala Himself tells us that we will be tested, so that those who are true to Allah can be differentiated from those who are not. Yet when these expected tests come to us, we react like a cat that has had its tail stepped on.

Allah Ta’aala has different tests for different people, this as well He mentions in the Qur’aan. Just as an example are the following:

He tests people with poverty, others He tests with wealth.
He tests people with children, others He tests with lack of children.
He tests people with sickness, others He tests with health.

A person should not look at another and feel jealousy or anger, that why isn’t that person being tested. As mentioned, everyone has a different test. What A may perceive as something very big may be a non topic for B, but B himself has other stresses in life that A cannot even imagine. A and B may look at C and think C is living with no troubles at all, yet C has his own shares of tests.

There is no such thing as a perfect life, at least not for one who will constantly dwell upon that which they do not have rather than that which they have. C may not have a child and looks with envy at A who does. However does C realize the stress that A has to go through every day to ensure the child is properly looked after? Meanwhile A will look at C and envy the free time C has. However does A feel the anguish C does?

Each person’s pain is different. The pain I feel is different than the pain you feel or the pain the person down the street does. My pain is not less than yours nor is it more than yours. Apples and oranges cannot be compared, and the tests a person faces cannot be compared either.

However the solution for every problem is there right before us in the shining example of Rasulullah Salla Allahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam. Countless of problems he faced, yet the way he dealt with them was one.

He resigned himself to the Will of Allah the Most Wise.

Six children of his passed away before him. Two wives of his left the world before he did. His own beloved uncle rejected his call; another was murdered in the most gruesome way. Myriads of tests the Beloved of Allah Ta’aala had to face; who are we before him?!

We must realize that this entire life of ours is not the life, rather it is just an application form for the ultimate life, the hereafter. Our applications are filled by our daily actions and intentions. The purpose of our lives on this Earth is clear; we do not have to meditate on the peak of a mountain or sit under a waterfall to be enlightened. Allah Ta’aala has told us clearly in the Qur’aan that we have been created solely for the purpose of worshiping Him. And as mentioned before, this life will be riddled with tests and trials. There is no way around it. However, it is up to us exactly how we will react to the things that happen to us.

We can whine and moan, we can blame others for our troubles, and we can call names and think the whole world is against us.

Or, we can follow the way of the beloveds of Allah Ta’aala and adopt Tafweez, resigning ourselves to Allah’s will, trusting His judgment that He knows best why this situation is upon us. We can realize that Allah is Most Wise and in His infinite wisdom that we cannot fathom, He is testing us this way. And we can realize that whichever situation Allah has put us in, that is the best situation for us.

“In whichever condition He keeps me,
It is the best condition for me.
Through whichever route He takes me
It is the easiest route for me.*”

*Poem by Hazrat Shah Muhammad Ahmad saheb, taken from the book "Tafweez" by Moulana Yunus Patel saheb