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Nasheed Night: Secrets from Grandshaykh AbdAllah

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

14 January 2018 Feltham, London, UK

Centre for Spiritual and Cultural Advancement

[On video, suhbah starts @ 01:47.]

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,

nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta'ala al-`Azheem fee hadha 'l-masjid.

أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)

Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Laa yumkin bi ahadina an y`araf `Azhamat an-Nabi, no one can know the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Whatever descriptions poets write, they are only swimming in a valley, unable to aptly express the Greatness of the Prophet (s), although it is acceptable, but how deep can we reach his Reality? We would have to dive into one ocean after another to reach the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!

In 1967, Grandshaykh (q) mentioned some secrets of Tariqah Naqshbandiyya in private lectures he gave to my brother and me, from which I will relate a story about Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) when he continuously asked, “Yaa Rabbee! Open Your Door for me.” He petitioned for years, because he felt an immense thirst to see the Realities and to understand the Prophet’s Greatness (s), such as how did he stand in Allah's Majestic Presence, did he see Him? Yes, according to `ulama, he saw Allah (swt) with his physical eyes, which means on the night of Qaaba Qawsayni al-Adna the Prophet (s) moved faster than the speed of light at 300,000 km per hour. Did he reach his final destination with that speed? No, he is ascending until the Day of Judgment.

So Bayazid al-Bistami (q) wanted to reach that Station of real Love, the Light Allah manifested on Prophet (s) that quenched his thirst. He did not say, “Yaa Rabb! I want to witness the Station of the Prophet (s), ” although he came nearer to that by struggling and reciting words Allah had shown him not in dreams, but in bayna an-nawmi wal-yaqazha, the station between sleep and wakefulness. No one can reach the Prophet’s Reality, but they may understand he is there, continuously ascending.

After struggling for many years, Bayazid heard Allah tell to him through an angel, “Yaa `abdee, if you want Me to open My Door, you must struggle for Me.”

He said, “Yaa Rabbee, I will do what I can, open Your Door for me.”

“Serve Me through serving everyone else: be a khaadim to My servants and all My Creation. That will make Me happy.”

He asked “Yaa Rabbee, how can I serve them?”

The answer came, “By giving your life to them, even if you don't know them. You know what to do, and when you do it My Door will open for you.”

At that point, Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) realized he had to make khidmah, service, and not an ordinary service, but to bring all those who believe in Sayyidina Muhammad to the Divine Presence where the Prophet (s) reached, where ultimately Allah manifested His Tajalli of His Beautiful Names and Attributes. Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) struggled a great deal, not with suhbah, nor through qasidah or anything else, but through khidmat to the servants, with what Allah wanted from him. So he began to do that until one day he did something for which the `ulama decided to kill him through rajm, stoning. They tied his hands, took him to the appointed place and stoned him until he fainted. They thought he died, so they left him.

For seven days he was unconscious, unable to move, but what he received in those seven days enabled him to reach his Divine Reality. Once there, he decided not to return until he reached the center of the Earth and he declared, “Yaa Rabbee! I will not come back until You open the Reality of the center of the Earth to me.” As soon as he said that, the Reality of the Prophet (s) appeared, and that is when he knew he was on the right way!

He kept going until he heard something that we do every day. Before that he went to the ocean and dove in as he wanted to reach the sound from deep within. He descended until he was able to hear a sound of dhikr, and he tried to count the number of people making dhikr, but despite using all his power he could not. He heard them making dhikr, “Hu, Hu, Hu….” As he approached that group, he saw Sayyidina Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q), leader of Tariqat an-Naqshbandiyyat al-`Aliyya, and tried to reach him, but fearing that he might be transgressing his limits, he stopped and went back. He was afraid Shah Baha’uddin (q) might shout at him, but instead Shah Baha’uddin followed him. Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) is the fifth Master in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain and Sayyidina Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q) is the seventeenth, so between them there is a difference of many years.

He backed up and asked, “Yaa Rabbee! Who are those making dhikr?”

He heard the answer, “These are the lovers of the Prophet (s), whom I created before everyone else, as they are a My priority. ”

All of us were created on the Day of Promises, on the day when Allah asked the souls, “Am I not your Lord?”

We all said, “Yes.” From that day they are present here doing dhikr. “Hu” is from the Arabic letters Haa and Waw. It has many meanings. Qul Hu, “Say, ‘He is’.”

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّـهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّـهُ الصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ

Say He is Allah, The One, Allah The Eternal! He begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is none like Him. (Surat al-Ikhlas 112:1-4)

So there he knew the reality that no one can surpass the limits of Prophet (s), as the place he reached is for him and Naqshbandi Awliyaullah are all in that Reality. I say that because I like that qasidah we just heard: it refreshes the body and the brain. That is why we must be happy that Allah (swt) created us from Ummat an-Nabi (s) and honored us to be from Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah.

Al-`ilmu `ilmaan: `Ilmu ‘l-Awraaq wa `Ilmu ‘l-Ddhwaaq, Knowledge is of two types: Knowledge of Books and Knowledge of Taste. `Ilm al-Awraaq is when you read something, you taste what the writer wrote, is it correct or not? `Ilm al-Adhwaaq, Knowledge of Taste, is very difficult to reach, as it comes from the Secret of Hu. That is what Prophet (s) poured into the heart of Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q), the Reality of the meaning of Hu.

Most scholars and `ulama from every Tariqah recite “Hu” and we are doing that, but we have some superiority as we are not on baatil, but on Haqq.

وَالسَّمَاء وَالطَّارِقِ وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ إِن كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ

By the Sky and the Night-Visitant (therein);- (It is) the Star of piercing brightness;- And what will explain to thee what the Night-Visitant is?- There is no soul but has a protector over it.

(Surah at-Tariq, 86:1-4)

Wa ‘s-samaa'i wa ‘t-taariq. Allah (swt) is giving an oath by Heavens and Earth and the meaning that Allah wants to tell us is as-samaawaat wa maa adraaka maa ’t-taariq. Taariq is the one who knocks. Recently NASA discovered a star that is making a knocking sound. Allah is giving an oath by the Knocking Star and the Piercing Star. So it is the sound of piercing, piercing all of the knowledge that the Prophet (s) is pouring into hearts. That star is the Prophet (s) awakening that person. Every knock has the reality of a human being and continuously gives us ishaarah, a signal to the heart to say “Allahu, Allahu, Allahu.”

Alhamdulillah, in Madinah, one time the Prophet (s) passed by with some Sahaabah (r) and said:

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إذا مررتم برياض الجنة فارتعوا. قالو وما رياض الجنة؟ قال "حلق الذكر"

Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (s) said, "When you pass by the Gardens of Paradise, avail yourselves of them." The Companions asked, "What are the Gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "The circles of dhikr.” (Tirmidhi)

This gathering is Hilaaq adh-Dhikr and thus a piece of Paradise, and there are many such circles around the world. That is the benefit: whenever you are in a piece of Paradise, you are being dressed with the Tajalli of Rawdah ash-Shareef! May Allah (swt) accept this from us and bless all of us, as we are sinners. We ask forgiveness from those whom we may have hurt.

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

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