By appointment it’s here
And not a moment too soon
Gone are the comforts, gone is the falsehood
Gone are the smiles, the glitter, the coccoon.
Fear trembling the earth
Records showering down arsenic laced
Flesh sprawled across the plains
It rots and how eager I was to taste.
Spread me out a fortress
On the head of a pin
Your Mercy, Your Refuge- all the way through
Oh As Salam, As Salam help me to You.
Was listening to Sheikh Hamza Yusuf:
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“If you take a child and you throw the child up, there’s a point where they go into this state of complete panic. And then when they come back to your arms they’re laughing. THAT is Dunya. I guarantee you. That moment, that is your life. You came from God and you’re going back to God. And there’s just a moment where you’re in a complete state of panic. But just relax, you’re in good hands. You’re in good hands.
SubhanAllah.
“You’re in good hands”
I don’t know about you, but the profound beauty and truth of that statement (and metaphor) struck me.
A Native American grandfather was speaking to his grandson on how he felt about a tragedy. He said:
“I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate, peaceful one.”
The grandson asked him, “Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?”
The grandfather replied: ‘The one I feed’.
[Native American Story]
“How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” (Narrated by Muslim).
~ Amatullah
We feel inherently obliged to show gratitude to those who benefit us. And who more worthy (among man) of our gratitude than the one who strove to ensure the knowledge of the Divine reaches us?
I thought I’d write something up for this. But then I decided – sometimes you don’t need anything further to explain it.
Please do not forget to send salutations at each and every reference and mention.
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“Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O you who believe! Send blessings upon Him, and salute Him with all respect” (Quran 33:56)
“Whoever sends one blessing upon me, Allah will send ten blessings upon him” (Hadith:Muslim)
“Your invoking blessings upon him is, in reality, praying for yourself, since the benefits of it are returning to you” (Abu Muhammad al-Marjani : al-Qawl al-Badi’)
Related from Ubayy ibn Ka’b who said, “I asked, ‘O messenger of Allah, I would like to increase my prayers for blessings on you. How much of my invocations should I devote to this?’ He replied, ‘As much as you like.’ I asked, ‘One quarter?’ He said, ‘As much as you like, but the more you do, the better it is for you.’ So I asked, ‘One half?’ He said, ‘As much as you like, but the more you do, the better it is for you.’ So I said, ‘Two thirds then?’ He said ‘As much as you like, but the more you do, the better it is for you.’ So I said, ‘I will devote my entire time for invocation for you.’ To this he said, ‘Then your concerns will be taken care of and your sins will be forgiven.’” (Tirmidhi)
The reason we are commanded to ask Allah to send blessings and peace upon him, as opposed to doing it ourselves, is as quoted by Shams ad-Din as-Sakhawi from Marghinani: “Because he is the pure one, without blemish, and we are with flaws and blemishes. So how can the one with flaws praise the one without? Therefore, we ask Allah to send blessings on him so that the blessings are from the Pure Lord upon the Pure Prophet.” (al-Qawl al-Badi’)
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“O Allah, Bless Muhammad as You have commanded us to bless him;
O Allah, bless Muhammad as much as he is deserving (of that blessing);
O Allah, bless Muhammad as much as Your love and good pleasure for him”
“O Allah, bless the spirit of Muhammad among the spirits, bless the body of Muhammad among the bodies, and bless the grave of Muhammad among the graves”
Peace upon Allah’s chosen servants. Peace upon the messengers.
