More

There should be something more pure than this,
this mere breathing of needs and wants

yours and mine

There should be more
than the persuit of bread and food for us

More kinder than words and thoughts of generosity
and plainer than the simplicity of being nice

More than what meets the eye and
more than where the soul finds ease

yours and mine

Isn`t it strange

Isn`t is strange O Lord
that he who loves wine, loves it more than my love for you

That one who thrives on work
enjoys it more than my thoughts for you

Isn`t it strange

that one`s thirst for knowledge
exhausts one`s desire for you

that the need to heal and help
overcomes and takes up virtually everything

In all these wonders and works of distraction
you still remain my only comfort

and so I pause and reflect
at the strangeness of everything else beside You

Thinking

B M S, "Remember 90 percent of the work is thinking".

Feedback

A: "The solution lies along the way, and not at the end of the road. And it lies within you. But you need patience to reach it. Look for it within you and not outside and you will find it. "

Subtle Humour

m: "Oh ! They`ve just dimmed the lights." Walks away to turn them on.

A: "Don`t worry, my pupils will dilate in a moment and adjust."

Most Glorious

"Most Glorious," [Sheikh] Yunus echoed , and then fell silent. Hours later, when we were returning at night through the spring-verdant lands of the Bani Hasan between Mafraq and Zarqa, we opened up the car windows and the smell of herbs and grass poured in with the night air. Sheikh Yunus, of Bedouin stock , was moved to speak of Divine Love, which I had never in the previous eight years heard him speak of before. "The smallest breath of it , the faintest trace , is enough to dissolve and wash away the entire universe with all that is in it : one forgets all of it together."

Source: Interpreter`s Log by Sheikh Nuh Keller , page 30.




May Allah SWT be well pleased with Sheikh Yunus.

Salaam

As-Salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatu Llahi wa barakatu :)

Shaykh 'Abd al Rahman Interpeted

Shaykh 'Abd al Rahman [may Allah be well pleased with him] Interpeted -translated and expounded meanings by Shaykh Nuh Keller.

Link : http://www.thetraditionalpath.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_30&products_id=205

PS: Picture from traditionalpath.com

Hadra Recording

Hadras of Old -Side 2 -track 5

http://www.shadhiliteachings.com/

SubhanAllah !

Five Qirsh's Pride

As I left the shop I glanced up into the clear night sky and squinted with jesting protest at the stars. "Exactly five qirsh short." I laughed to myself thinking of the first shopkeeper.

Next time, insha Allah I know what to do.

Read the complete entry at : http://qays.vox.com/library/post/five-qirshs-pride.html

Hadra Recording

The Hadra recording [2nd] from the zawiya on Laylat al-Qadr 2008 is excellent.

It can be heard on http://shadhiliteachings.com

"Knowing the Beloved of God"

A series of lectures by our respected teacher Sheikh Faraz Rabbani at http://seekersguidance.com/site/blog.html

.

A Taste of Tasawwuf - Part 1

Nothing should prove difficult that you seek through your Lord
and nothing prove easy that you seek through yourself.

One of the signs of the signs of success at the endings is turning to Allah at one`s beginning.
He who`s beginning is illumined, his ending is also illuminated.


From the Hikam of Sidi Ibn `Ata `Illah.
Teacher : Sheikh Nuh Keller


Link : http://www.sunnipath.com/Academy/OnlineCourses/Spirituality/A-Taste-of-Tasawwuf-Part-1.aspx

Discourses of Rumi

Within people there is a longing and a desire such that, even if a hundred thousand worlds were theirs to own, still they would find no rest or comfort.They try every trade and craft, studying astronomy, medicine and every other subject, but they reach no completion, for they have not found their true desire. Poets call the Beloved "heart`s ease," because there the heart finds ease. How can we find peace and rest in anything but the Beloved?

All these pleasures and persuits are like a ladder. The rungs of a ladder are not a place to make one`s home ; there are for passing by. Fortunate are those who learn this. The long road becomes short for them , and they do not waste their lives upon the steps.

From :"Discourses of Rumi" translated by A.J Arberry, Page 119

A Moth

The maker of all false claims comes to You empty-handed
Unable to hold one`s head , and eyes filled with tears

A last request before the Mighty King
The slave seeks a blinding desire to be a moth before Your flame

A moth that knows only to do
Again and again towards You and in You

Reduce one to a moth!
Ya Rabb !

Letter to Dr. Abdullah by Sheikh Nuh Keller

How can one condemn making dhikr while standing, or standing while making dhikr, when Allah Most High says, “. . . those who invoke Allah standing, sitting, and upon their sides” (Koran 3:191). And ‘A’isha (Allah be well pleased with her) said, “The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to invoke Allah at all times” [Sahih Muslim, 1.282: 373]. And if dancing is added to this standing, it may not be condemned, as it is of the joy of spiritual vision and ecstasy, and the hadith exists [in many sources, such as Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, 1.108, with a sound (hasan) chain of transmission] that Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib danced in front of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) when the Prophet told him, “You resemble me in looks and in character,” dancing from the happiness he felt from being thus addressed, and the Prophet did not condemn him for doing so, this being a basis for the legal acceptability of the Sufis dancing from the joys of the ecstasies they experience (al-Hawi li al-fatawi, 2.234).

Read the complete letter at : http://shadhilitariqa.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49

Introduction to Islamic Spirituality

Allah was and nothing besides and He is now even as He always was.

Introduction to Islamic Spirituality

Get a taste for Sufism's teachings through readings from the Hikam of Imam Ibn 'Ata' Illah through lessons with a living master of spirituality.

This is an excellent course at SunniPath by Sheikh Nuh Keller.

If possible do try and enroll and insh`Allah you will find it very beneficial.

PS:Picture taken from SunniPath.com

The Heart of a sufi

Is deeper than an ocean and bigger than the universe
one wonder what contains it !

Nothing but Him.
Subhan Allah !

Only hidden by flesh for these ignorant eyes,
Ya Rabb, thy mercy is beyond one`s comprehension

It`s surely from your Rahma,
that one sees the heart of a sufi

Subhan Allah.

SeekersGuidance

SeekersGuidance (http://www.seekersguidance.com/), the Online Islamic Educational Portal of Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, has just launched its fall courses in:

1. Islamic Law (Fiqh)

2. Beliefs & Understanding (Aqida)

3. Prophetic Guidance

4. Qur'anic Studies

Course Format: Conveniently downloadable lessons.

Course Texts: Text translations, lesson handouts, review questions, and other related readings will be provided upon course opening.

Registration is now open.

First 10 registrants in each course get an early bird 20% discount

First 5 registrants in each course also get a free copy of "The Branches of Faith: Bringing Faith to Life" (a 4-lesson set)

Returning students registering in any course get a free copy of Imam Ghazali on "Organizing Your Religious Routines"

Courses to commence from Friday, Oct 17th 2008.

REGISTER TODAY

The Spiritual Path

Our Master [May Allah SWT preserve him] says , " His concern for one is commensurate with one`s concern for Him.And this is the spiritual path - his concern for Allah SWT.Worshipping Him just because He is so Worship-able, because He deserves to be worshipped.Loving Him because He so deserves love, wanting Him because there is nothing else that deserves to be wanted.This is the spiritual path."

Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller Lectures at Halaltube

Link : http://www.halaltube.com/category/nuh-ha-meem-keller?PHPSESSID=abcfe008b6175869ac0bf91231c32012&submit=Seek

Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller - What Do We Do In Ramadan?

Link : http://www.halaltube.com/what-do-we-do-in-ramadan

The Fiqh of Fasting and it`s Virtues at SeekersGuidance

SeekersGuidance recently offered a free course on fasting this Ramadan , entitled ,"The Fiqh of Fasting and it`s Virtues". The course was excellent and was in mp3 audio format that one could download and listen and re-listen forever, which is simply unbelievable, especially for people with a hectic schedule.It`s something that one can always store somewhere safe and benefit from every year in Ramadan.

The course allowed students to ask questions on the forum which were all answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.They covered almost all possible aspects of fasting, from the intention, to tarawih, as well as ita`qaaf.The answers offered were very clear and comprehensive.If one makes a folder of all the questions and answers , this will be of utmost benefit, insh`Allah.

At the end of the course Shaykh Faraz offered the following dua :

"We ask Allah SWT that He benefit us from this month of Ramadan, that we be of those who fast out of faith and sincere seeking , whose fasting becomes a means for us to become people of taqwa , people of thankfulness , people of closeness to Allah SWT , people who answer the call of Allah SWT and who strive to bring their faith to life , people who seek Allah SWT and seek excellence in faith , people who become of those who submit to Allah and worship Allah as though we behold Him and if we behold Him not that we be of those who are actively aware that Allah SWT is watching over us.

We ask Allah SWT that He make His love and the love of His messenger [Allah bless him and give him peace] and the love of His religion greater in our hearts and in our lives and in our actions and our conduct than the love of anything else .And we ask Allah SWT to make us of those whose lives revolve , whose lives circumabulate around the love of Allah SWT."

He ended by sending salat on the Prophet [Allah bless him and give him peace] and his companions.

Needless to say SeekersGuidance is a splendid resource for seekers of Islamic knowledge.The fact that you can have mp3 downloadable lessons forever is like an immense , unending treasure of guidance.May Allah SWT reward Shaykh Faraz Rabbani for his unending and sincere efforts in benefitting the students of Islamic knowledge.

The courses currently offered in the fall semester may be seen at the link below:

http://seekersguidance.com/site/courses2/course-catalog.html

PS: Picture taken from www.SeekersGuidance.com

A Dialogue I Had with Myself to Discipline it

"Are you–O Self!–then able to trample on the hand of attachment to other than Allah Most High in order to cast it aside? Or on some money in order to snatch it away, that a poor person is better entitled to and whose greed is holding you back from Allah Most High? Or on a lustful gaze in order to tear it away, which is clouding your heart, keeping the lights of intimacy from being imprinted in its mirror, and preventing the seeds of reverential awe and watchfulness from sprouting in its field? Or on that look of self-admiration in order to wrest it away, which is poisoned with arrogance, veiling the self from its true state of indigence and need and making it heedless of the innumerable gifts that it has been given?”

by Shaykh Hamza Karamali

Read the complete article at http://blog.sunnipath.com/2008/08/27/a-dialogue-i-had-with-myself-to-discipline-it/

Of men and saints

Of men and saints some are like the sun
they clear the horizon and make everything lucid

you approach them with minds filled with nothingness
and they fill you with Him and His path

so strange is their aura
stranger yet are their words

you see them and then Him
suddenly He is so palpably close, as if closer than the jugular vein
and even closer

we sat at the feet of such a man
just a few days ago, who took us miles ahead of ourselves
and even beyond
to Him

may Allah SWT preserve him and all his people

Anger

This is a quote of the Sheikh.

"Whatever begins with anger ends in shame."

Ending

"If it were not for the ending you wouldn`t long for the beginning."



Someone said this to me once and it is so relevant today.

Ten days in Japan

Maulana Mufti Taqi Usmani [May Allah preserve him] writes about his stay in Japan.

Link : http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jul2008-daily/23-07-2008/col8.htm


[PS.This article is in Urdu]