Secret of Longevity

One day Molla was asked the secret to longevity.

"Keep your feet warm, your head cool, be careful what you eat and don't think too much."

My Dear Friend

“In Persian, there are four levels of friendship each relating to a degree in closeness and intimacy: Aashenaa (to know someone casually), Doost (a close friend), Rafeegh (your best friend) and Yaar (your inseparable lover). However, these levels are independent of the type of physical connection you have with someone. These degrees of closeness explain your deep soul connection with another being; your spouse, therefore, may only be your Aashenaa, or you may have a perfect platonic relationship with a Yaar. Some mystics measure their intimacy with God and the Beloved by using these levels.

My dear friend
never lose hope
when the Beloved
sends you away.

If you're abandoned
if you're left hopeless
tomorrow for sure
you'll be called again.

If the door is shut
right in your face
keep waiting with patience
don't leave right away.

Seeing your patience
your love will soon
summon you with grace
raise you like a champion.

And if all the roads
end up in dead ends
you'll be shown the secret paths
no one will comprehend.

The beloved I know
will give with no qualms
to a puny ant
the kingdom of Solomon.

My heart has journeyed
many times around the world
but has never found
and will never find
such a Beloved again.

ah I better keep silence
I know this endless love
will surely arrive
for you and you and you

---

What draws friends together
does not conform to Laws of Nature.
Form doesn't know about spiritual closeness.
If a grain of barley approaches a grain of wheat,
an ant must be carrying it. A black ant on black felt.
You can't see it, but if grains go toward each other,
it's there.

A hand shifts our birdcages around.
Some are brought closer. Some move apart.
Do not try to reason it out. Be conscious
of who draws you and who not.

Trust in God

BismillahirRahmanirRahim
(M)

"Trust in God is negation of trust in God," said Baba Tahir. That is to say that the one who truly trusts in God denies himself any attachment to it, in the sense that he has neither confidence in, nor attention to, his own trust.

-Baba Tahir, "Kalamat-i qisar"

Unity among the People

A friend passed this to me today, it is beautiful.

Why are some so judgmental? I believe that if one is so busy judging another, then they have no time to love. And Love should be the axis that all human beings should revolve on. If one does not have love in one's heart, then one has a dead soul. I am pretty sure that there are some out there who really know the depth of this statement. This is the statement that came out of the Prophet's heart. This is the statement that comes out of the Sheik's heart and believe me, it is only the person, and only the person who knows this depth I talk of will understand this statement.

The Prophet (SAW) was never judgmental. He never found fault with anybody. He even accepted the hypocrites who wanted him dead. So why are some so hell-bent in squashing their own brethren?

Look at our Prophet and look at how he lived. He is the best example one can have as to how to treat human beings whether they are Kafir or Muslim. We are just Ummas of the Prophet. We do not have the right to stamp or label another human being saying `He's Kafir, He's Muslim'. This is Allah's work. That's why we have the creator so that He can actually rule the created.

We are all Muslims and that's a fact. Among us there are the true ones and then again there are the not-so-true ones. True or not-so-true, we are all Umma of the Prophet SAW. Because we have different theologies does not mean that we are Kafirs among Muslims. We have a civic and a social responsibility as Muslims to stay united as Muslims and pose as an indomitable front. One may not agree on some of the motives or actions another Muslim brother would posses but the bottom line is we are all Muslims. If there is a another force that is going around the world to destroy Islam and Muslims, then we should all join hands to confront this force as a united front and not as a divided family. It really does not matter if one has a doubt about the Prophet’s ways or if one disagrees with Sheik Nazim and Sufism, or if one does not do anything Islamic at all. It really does not matter. But the fact is that we are all Muslims, as Muslims we must join hands
to stay safe in numbers so that we can meet that destructive force with a formidable front.

So, some brothers being mad at some members are not doing any good for personal or collective advancement. They are also not being responsible in propagating Islam in the way Allah and the Prophet wanted. If one finds a Muslim of another extreme, it is truly not correct to alienate this person. The right way would be to try to make him see that he is slightly distracted from the way of Allah and all efforts must be given to pull back the person in to the right way. But what do we see here? Alienation of the highest order…………. mud slinging, back biting! If some of the people in the forum think that a few people in the forum are in the wrong path, by all means please enlighten those in the wrong instead of labelling them. It really does not matter if you are wahhabi, shia or any other sect within the Muslim circle. As long as they acknowledge Allah Almighty and the Prophet (SAW) nothing should really matter.

Why are we letting ourselves be overwhelmed by the trivialities of life? Just lift your head and look at the sky above you? Can you comprehend its vastness? In the same way, can you truly comprehend HAQ? Can you actually say that you have understood Allah Almighty completely? Oh, how can one be so judgemental when you may not even have touched the surface of infinity.

Some don't want to pray shoulder to shoulder because they might have to join a Shia or a Wahhabi or whatever. Some don't want to associate another sect because they tie their hands for takbir in a different way. Some Muslims don't want to associate another sect of Muslims because they go and pray at ziharams and believe in Awliyas. Then, here in Sri Lanka , some Muslims discouraged another set of Muslims from joining Sufism because they were told that the Sufis pray only three times a day!

Ignorance and lack of proper knowledge led them to believe in a falsehood. Praying three or five times or 100 times, what? Aren’t they are all praying to Allah Almighty. The former Sri Lankan Ambassadoress for Pakistan visited some Sufis in Peshawar . These Sufis meditate in a cave and come out only on certain days. On her visit, she witnessed that the Sufis did not pray the 5 times prayer and she popped the question how come? Out came the answer: why limit remembrance of Allah to just 5 times a day when we are with Allah 24 hours of the day and every second of the day. How does one argue with logic like that? Logic perfectly harmonised with theology and action.

Do you really think HAQ is being governed by mundane things like who is right and who is wrong? If the Sufis are praying 3 times a day or not at all, whether they are praying five rakats or ten or only two for that matter, they are with Allah 24 hours of the day…………look at the bottom line, they are with Allah 24 hours of the day aren't they? They are all prostrating before Allah Almighty and have acknowledged the Prophet as the messenger of Allah. Can you truly tell those Sufis that they are not with Allah because they are not praying five times day? Will Allah Almighty or the Prophet not acknowledge those Sufis because they did not pray 5 times a day?

Motives and ideas of each person or a sect is different from each other but as long as they are within the circle of Islam that propagates one God and that the Prophet is the last of the messengers, I think it is safe to say that one is in the correct path. People can go to extremes. People go to extremes in relation to Islamic rights and rituals but they are all Muslims and brethren. No individual sect can announce to the world that they are the better and correct path to Allah Almighty. All come under the umbrella of Islam/Muslim, and therefore, should not stand alone and confront separately a common battle which has to be sorted out with a united front. If there are among us brethren who have some ideas that don't coincide with the norm, then disassociate yourself with those ideas ONLY but still associate with the person because he is still a fellow Muslim. Try to guide the person concerned to see light in those parts that need guidance. Because
this person as a whole is an umma of the Prophet and if there is a Muslim who is completely extreme in his outlook, leave him to Allah for guidance.

No Muslim should be judgmental about another human being. No Muslim should be the judge, jury and the executioner of another human being. It is only Allah and Allah alone who has this right to make this call. If you love Allah and the Prophet, show it in action. The noblest way to show it would be the way the Prophet (SAW) lived and acted.

To be truly happy and content, you need 2 things: Love and Understanding. Love that should come with spontaneity of the heart and understanding that can lead to forgiveness. You cannot have one without the other. You need both to be happy. Humanity has lost the spontaneity of love and understanding.. They have forgotten the path to forgiveness.

Shaitan works in many ways. Let’s stay united for the love of Allah

Soraya Usuf

Awliya's Salawat (Prayer)

A woman came to Hadhrat Hasan Basri (rahmatullahi alayhi) and said, "My daughter has passed away, I want to see her in a dream". Hasan Basri advised her, "Offer four rak'at nafl Salat after the Isha. Recite Surah At-Takathur after Al Fatiha in each rak'at. After offering the Salat go to bed and recite Darud till you sleep."

She followed the advise. In the dream she saw her daughter in severe punishment. Her both hands were cuffed and her feet were tied with the chains of fire.

After getting up in the morning she went straight to Hadhrat Hasan Basri (rahmatullahi alayhi) and told the dream. Hazrat Hasan Basri said, "Give alms on her behalf. It is possible that Allah may forgive her".

The next night, Hasan Basri himself dreamt a garden of Paradise having a very high throne on which a very beautiful and charming girl was sitting. She was wearing a crown of light. She said "Hasan! Do you recognise me?". Hasan said "No, I do not recognise you". The girl said, "I am the same girl to whose Mother you advised to recite the Darud (after the Isha till sleep)". Hadhrat Hasan said, "Your Mother told me quite a contrary condition". She said, "I was in the same condition as told by my Mother". "How did you get this position?" enquired Hadhrat Hasan. The girl told, "I was being punished along with seventy thousand people in that torment. A devotee from the saints passed by our graveyard. He recited Darud once on the Prophet salaAllahu alayhi wasalam and prayed to Allah to grant us the reward of that Darud. Allah answered his prayer and all of us were forgiven and granted salvation".

Life

Though you may be a rock or marble you will be a jewel when you
reach the man of heart.
Plant the love of the Beloved in your spirit; do not give your heart
to anyone save those whose hearts are full of love.
Don’t go into the place of despair: there is hope.
Don’t go in the direction of darkness: there is light.
The heart leads you to the heart.
Allow the heart to be fed with love,
And the spirit to be filled with enlightenment.

May you all continue celebrating life dancing moment to moment!

The Ta-Sin of Understanding

The Ta-Sin of Understanding

The comprehensions of created natures are not attached to reality, and reality is not attached to created natures. Thoughts (which come) are adherences, and the adherences of created natures do not attach themselves to realities. The perception of reality is difficult to acquire, so how much more difficult is the perception of the reality of the Reality. Furthermore, Allah is beyond reality, and reality does not in itself imply Allah.

The moth flies about the flame until morning, then he returns to his fellows and tells them of his spiritual state with the most eloquent expressions. The he mixes with the coquetry of the flame in his desire to reach perfect union.

The light of the flame is the knowledge of reality, its heat is the reality of reality, and Union with it is the Truth of the reality.

He was not satisfied with its light nor with its heat, so he leapt into it completely. Meanwhile, his fellows were awaiting his coming so that he could tell them of his actual vision since he had not been satisfied with hearsay. But at that moment, he was being utterly consumed, reduced and dispersed into fragments, and he remained without form or body or distinguishing mark. Then in what sense can he return to his fellows? And in what state now that he has obtained? He who had arrived at the vision became able to dispense with reports. He who arrives at the object of his vision is no longer concerned with the vision.

These meanings do not concern the negligent man, nor the transitory man, nor the man of wrong action, nor the man who follows his whims.

Oh you who are uncertain, do not identify ‘I am’ with the Divine ‘I’ - not now, nor in the future, nor in the past. Even if the ‘I am’ was a consummated gnostic, and if this was my state, it was not the perfection. Even though I am His I am not He.

If you have understood this, then understand that these meanings were not true from anyone except Muhammad, and ‘Muhammed is not the father of any one of your men,’ but the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets. He absented himself from men and jinn, and he closed his eyes to ‘where’ until there no longer remained any veil on the heart nor any falsehood.

There was a ‘length of two bows’ lengths or nearer,’ when he reached the desert of the ‘knowledge of reality,’ he reported from the outward heart. When he arrived to the truth of the reality he left his desire there and gave himself up to the Bountiful. When he reached the Truth he returned and said: ‘the inward heart has prostrated to You, and the outward heart has believed in You.’ When he reached the Furthermost Limit he said: ‘I cannot praise You as You should be praised.’ When he reached the reality of the reality he said: ‘You are the only One who can praise Yourself.’

He renounced his desire and followed his vocation, ‘the heart did not lie about what it saw’ at this station near the Lote-Tree of the Boundary. He did not turn to the right to the reality of things, nor to the left to the reality of reality. ‘His eyes swerved not, nor swept away.’

Source: as quoted from Mansur al-Hallaj,
Author of 'The Tawasin', translated by:
Aisha Abd ar-Rahman at-Tarjumana

Love

Doc Childre
Our true identity is to love without fear and insecurity. Our higher potential finds us when we set our course in that direction. The power of love and compassion transforms insecurity.

Vipin Sharma
Love the heart that hurts you, but never hurt the heart that loves you.

Sara Paddison, The Hidden Power of the Heart
Enthusiasm created from the heart is the spirit of the matter. It ignites your whole system so there's no drag, no resistance, no thoughts like "Do I have to?" coming from the head to sabotage the power of your surrender.

Prophet Muhammed

Written by George Jordac

With eyes as bright as the shining sun, a reality on the lips more
brilliant than the light of the sun, a heart more fresh than the
flowers of the gardens of Yathrib and Taif, habits and morals more
decent than the moon- lit nights of the Hijaz, a mind more brisk than
the strong winds, a bewitching tongue, a heart with heavenly light,
firm determination like a trenchant sword and heavenly words on the
tongue - such was Muhammad son of Abdullah, the prophet of Arabia, the
prophet who destroyed the idols which had separated brothers from
brothers. He did not break only the idols of wood and stone but also
broke the idols of wealth, indecent habits and party-spirit.

The only thing which the cowardly Quraysh desired was money should be
transferred from the hands of the nomadic Arabs to their own pockets.
The only value which they attached to life was that in order to earn
profit they should travel through the desert on the back of the camels
undergoing extreme hardships and then return to their hometown Mecca -
the same Mecca which was the city of idol-worship, and where money was
the only thing which counted.

Suddenly they heard a voice which shook their nerves. Their hopes were
shattered. The world turned away its face from them saying: "The value
of man is not the same which you have assessed and the object of the
creation of the nomadic Arabs is not the same which you think it to be".

....... This was the voice of Muhammad ........

Banu Asad and Banu Tamim were so foolish and ignorant that they buried
their daughters alive without any cause. There was no justification
for their doing so except that it was a custom which had survived
amongst them. They were opposed to the Divine will. They hated the
beauty of nature. And then they heard a voice, which was expressive of
deep love and sympathy for the people saying: "Don't bury your
daughters alive. Daughters are as good a creation of God as the sons.
No human being has a right to deprive others of life. It is only God
who creates the people and makes them die".

........ This was the voice of Muhammad .......

The Arabs were always fighting. They fought and shed blood for years
on account of very trivial things. They killed their own brothers and
then rejoiced and glorified themselves on it. To sacrifice their lives
for the sake of their own ignorance was something very ordinary for
them. The children cried and screamed and grew up in conditions which
were not conducive to the creation of love or sympathy for anyone in
their minds.

In these circumstances they heard another voice which said: "What are
you doing? You kill one another although you are all brothers because
all of you have been created by God. Strife is something satanic.
Peace and friendship are more beneficial for you. The blessing for
which you fight can't be achieved except through peace".

........ This, too, was the voice of Muhammad .......

The Arabs were the most proud and egoistic people. They considered the
non-Arabs inferior to themselves. Not only this but they did not
consider the non-Arabs even human beings. Muhammad disliked this
attitude of the Arabs very much. Addressing these proud people he
said: "No Arab is superior to a non-Arab unless he is more pious.
Whether you like it or not all human beings are brothers of one another".

There were oppressed, homeless and helpless persons whose faces had
been scorched by the hot winds. The society had discarded them and
made their lives miserable. They were more humble in the eyes of the
people than the particles of sand and their life had become extremely
unenviable. And these were the true friends of the prophet of Islam,
just as the indigent and outcasts of the society were the friends of
Jesus Christ and other great men of the world. It was these very
people for whose benefit the prophet of Islam endeavoured to prevent
the establishment of dictatorship, disallowed slavery, freed man from
the bondage of his fellow-men, and established the public treasury so
that all might benefit from it without any discrimination. He directed
the efforts of the people towards public welfare. He insisted on
Quraysh, who were his kinsmen, at every step that they should improve
their conduct, do good deeds, and keep their attention directed
whole-heartedly to God, who has united the scattered creation into a
single whole.

However, Quraysh instigated the ignorant persons as well as their own
children to stone and ridicule him.

The helpless, oppressed and homeless slaves among whom one was Bilal,
the Mu'azzin of the prophet, were overjoyed when they heard this: "All
human beings are fed by God. He likes him most who is more helpful to
his creatures".

........ This was the voice of Muhammad .......

Those who were his enemies and stoned and ridiculed him heard this
animating voice: "If you (Muhammad) had been stern and hard-hearted
they would all have deserted you a long time ago. Forgive them and ask
God to forgive (their sins) and consult with them in certain matter.
But when you reach a decision trust God. God loves those who trust Him".

........ This was the voice of Muhammad .......

The following pure words were imprinted on the minds of those who were
endeavouring in the path of God for a better life, and were ready to
support him (Muhammad) in his campaign against idol-worship and
evil-doing, and were afraid lest their rights and good conduct might
be wasted in the battle-field.

"Remember! Don't be treacherous. Don't commit breach of trust. Don't
kill either a child or a woman or an old man or a monk in a monastery.
Don't burn a date-palm tree and don't cut any tree nor pull down a
building".

........ This voice was the voice of Muhammad .......

The Arabs heard this heavenly voice from Muhammad and spread it in all
the four corners of the world. They covered powerful rulers and kings
with this voice, established brotherhood amongst human beings and
strung them in one faith, and created relationship between man and God.

The shade of Muhammad spread so much that the entire Old World came
under it and the land from the east upto the west began producing the
fruits of goodness, knowledge, peace and friendship. The prophet of
Islam stretched his hand and sowed the seeds of friendship and
brotherhood throughout the world. That hand is still stretched and is
busy sowing the seeds. Hence, there is no part of the world wherein
the followers of Muhammad are not found. One of them may be in
Pakistan and the other may be in Spain, but in spite of this both of
them are treated to be under one and the same standard. The prophet
provided honour and respect to the Orientals which is even now a
shining crown on their heads.

This voice of the prophet, was a call for human brotherhood. It
stopped the hands of the rulers from reaching the property of the
subjects and gave equal rights to all human beings. In his religion
there is no discrimination between a common man, a ruler and a subject
and an Arab and a non-Arab, because all human beings are the slaves of
God and it is He who provides sustenance to all of them.

This voice emancipated women from the oppression of men, freed the
labourers from the injustice of the capitalists and delivered the
servants from the degradation of submission to their masters. As
opposed to Plato and other philosophers, who deprive the workers of
their social rights on account of their mean occupation and have
divided the society into many grades, the prophet of Islam made all
human beings participate in the affairs of government. He also
disallowed usury and exploitation of one man by another.