Four things not in your treasure

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Legend has it that as Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Suzani Samarqandi (سوزنی سمرقندی) was approaching the end of his time here on earth, he uttered these lines:

چَهار چِیز آوَرْدِه‌اَم،شَاهاَ، کِه دَر گَنجِ تُو نِیست

 

نِیستی وَ حَاجَت وَ  عذر وَ گُناه آوَرْدِه‌اَم

Four things, I bring O King, that your treasure-troves lack:
My nothingness, Need, Excuses and Sin- that is all I bring

 

We shall not flee

These are supposedly the words of a poem the Prophetﷺ  recited when they were surrounded by hordes of enemies around the Trench.

وَاللَّهِ لَوْلا اللَّهُ مَا اهْتَدَيْنَا
وَلا تَصَدَّقْنَا وَلا صَلَّيْنَا
فَأَنْزِلَنْ سَكِينَةً عَلَيْنَا
وَثَبِّتِ الأَقْدَامَ إِنْ لاقَيْنَا
إِنَّ الأُولَى قَدْ بَغَوْا عَلَيْنَا
إِذَا أَرَادُوا فِتْنَةً *أَبَيْنَا*
إنَّ المَلَا قدْ أَبَوْا عَلَيْنَا

 https://dorar.net/hadith/sharh/11778

By Allah had it not been for You
We would not have been guided
Nor would we have given in charity, nor prayed
So, bestow on us tranquility
And make our feet firm when we meet the enemy, 
For indeed, if they want to put us in affliction (ie want to fight against us)
We shall not flee (but withstand them)

Sharpen Yourself

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

The final straw which caused Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali to break the bonds with this world came one day when his brother Ahmad entered while he was preaching and recited:

أَخَذْتَ بِأَعْضَادِهِمْ إِذْ وَنُوا
وَخَلَّفَكَ الْجُهْدُ إِذْ أَسْرَعُوا 

You helped them in their state of weakness 
Yet you were left behind as they sped ahead of you.

وَأَصْبَحْتَ تَهْدِي وَلاَ تَهْتَدِي
وتُسْمِعُ وَعْظًا وَلاَ تَسْمَعُ

 You took upon the role of a guide, yet you were not guided
 You preach but do not listen (to yourself).

فَيَا حَجَرَ الشَّحْذِ حَتَّى مَتَى
تَسُنُّ الْحَدِيدَ وَلاَ تَقْطَعُ

O whetstone, for how long
will you whet iron, but will not (be sharp enough to) cut?

What the Seeker Needs?

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"What the seeker needs", is from the English translation of Kitab Kunh ma la budda lil- murid minhu (كنه ما لابد للمريد منه). This brief but important work by Shaykh al Akbar, Ibn ʿArabī (ابن عربي‎),  was reportedly written in Mosul in 1204 in answer to the question of what the seeker "should believe in and what he should do in the beginning, before anything else".

Translations of this work have been printed on several occasions in English for example by A. Jeffrey, and more recently by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak.

الحمد لله رب العالمين، وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وآله وصحبه أجمعين

  

All praise and thanks are due to Allah Most High, and may His benedictions and salutations be upon His messenger, and the progeny and companions of His messenger.

.
سألت أيها المريد عن "كنه ما لا بد للمريد منه"، فأجبتك في هذه الأوراق، والله الموفق لا رب غيره

.

O disciple, you sought to know on what is required of a seeker, and I have responded in these few pages, by the leave of Allah, and there is no Lord but Him.


Translations of this work have been printed on several occasions in English for example by A. Jeffrey, and more recently by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak.

Gratitude

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

 

رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ

وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ

وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

(46:15)

رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ
 وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَدْخِلْنِي بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِي عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ 

(27:19)




According to Ibn Abi’l-Dunya, the following verses were composed by Mahmud al-Warraq(مَحْمُودٍ الْوَرَّاقِ):

 إِذَا كَانَ شُكْرِي نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ نِعْمَةً
 عَلَيَّ لَهُ فِي مِثْلِهَا يَجِبُ الشُّكْرُ
 فَكَيْفَ بُلُوغُ الشُّكْرِ إِلَّا بِفَضْلِهِ
 وَإِنْ طَالَتِ الْأَيَّامُ وَاتَّصَلَ الْعُمْرُ
إِذَا مَسَّ بِالسَّرَّاءِ عَمَّ سُرُورُهَا
 وَإِنْ مَسَّ بِالضَّرَّاءِ أَعْقَبَهُ الْأَجْرُ
وَمَا مِنْهُمَا إِلَّا لَهُ فِيهِ نِعْمَةٌ
 تَضِيقُ بِهَا الْأَوْهَامُ وَالْبَرُّ وَالْبَحْرُ

If my expression of gratitude to Allah for His blessings is a blessing,
Then how can one thank Him save by His Grace, no matter how much time passes or how long one is  alive?

If He sends prosperity, it brings along happiness. And if He sends adversity, He quickly follows with reward
In both, indeed, He exhibits His Bounty, too huge to be encompassed by men, land, and sea

O people gone on Hajj Pilgrimage

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Maulana Rumi beseeches the pilgrims in this poem from Deewan-e-Shams:

ای قوم به حج رفته کجایید کجایید
معشوق همین جاست بیایید بیایید

O people gone on Hajj Pilgrimage
Where are you? Where are you?
The Beloved is right here
Come on back! Come on back!

معشوق تو همسایه و دیوار به دیوار
در بادیه سرگشته شما در چه هوایید

Your Beloved is your next-door neighbor -
Wall-to-Walls -
Why are you wandering in the Arabian deserts?

گر صورت بی‌صورت معشوق ببینید
هم خواجه و هم خانه و هم کعبه شمایید

If you take a good look at Beloved's Faceless Face,
You 'll get to see clearly that
The Master, the Holy House, and the Kaaba
Are all in reality You!

ده بار از آن راه بدان خانه برفتید
یک بار از این خانه بر این بام برآیید

You've already journeyed like ten times
On the path of Hajj-Pilgrimage
To visit that Holy House.
For once in your life,
Also climb up to the roof of your own house.

آن خانه لطیفست نشان‌هاش بگفتید
از خواجه آن خانه نشانی بنمایید

That Holy House is indeed magnificent
You've already talked about its many wonders.
But from the Master of that House,
Did you even get its correct address?

یک دسته گل کو اگر آن باغ بدیدیت
یک گوهر جان کو اگر از بحر خدایید

Where is your flower bouquet
If you've seen that Divine Garden?
Where is your soul's pearly essence
If you now belong to the Ocean of God?

با این همه آن رنج شما گنج شما باد
افسوس که بر گنج شما پرده شمایید

Well, despite of it all,
May all your sufferings turn into your treasures.
Alas, you're always veiling your own treasures

Where are they now?

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Khayyam writes in one of his Rubaiyat:

آن قصر که با چرخ همیزد پهلو
بر درگه آن شهان نهادندی رو

دیدیم که بر کنگره‌اش فاخته‌ای
بنشسته همی گفت که کوکوکوکو

Roughly translated, it means:

That castle/palace which reached the sky

Towards whose door prostrated kings

All that remained on it's towers

A ringdove  singing repeatedly Koo Koo, Koo, Koo (where are they now)