Dastoor, yaa Sayyidi, yaa Sultan al-Awliya, madad.
Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
May Allah (swt) forgive us. May Allah (swt) always keep us on the right way. Thank you for coming. I thank everybody who has come to be part of this special day. Actually, every day is a special day. Don’t wait for yearly visitations. Come more often. Some people come from year to year. I haven’t seen some people for five years. Some people finally showed up after ten years. No, come more often.
(They say), “Shaykh, you are in the woods. You’re at the end of nowhere.” How long has this place been here now, 35 years, 36 years? ‘92? We are coming to 34 years. Yes, we are in the woods. We are way out there. May Allah (swt) forgive us. But a Waliyullah was travelling in the woods. He saw a worshiper out in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, just surrounded by trees, snow and forest. I mentioned this story before but it’s good because we are in the woods. People ask, “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in the cities?”
This Waliyullah came across this worshiper in the woods and asked, “How long have you been here worshiping?”
“Twenty-four years.”
Man aneesuk, “Who gives you solace? Who keeps you company? Who is with you? Who makes you comfortable?”
Al-Fardu ‘s-Samad, “The One, The Unique, Who everybody needs.”
As-Samad means everybody’s needs are met by Him. Everybody goes to Him to have their needs met. They don’t go anywhere else. Nobody else can give you what you need except Allah (swt), your Creator. He knows you and He created you for something. Inshaa-Allah, we can reach that goal of why we were created.
He asked, “And from the creation?”
“The wild animals.”
Have you come across wild animals here? There are a lot of deer. You can spot some coyotes and foxes if you’re lucky.
“Wild animals are my companions from creation but the One Who gives me uns, warmth in my heart is Al-Fardu ‘s-Samad. I don’t need anything else.”
Wa ma ta`amuk, “What do you eat when you’re out in the wilderness?”
Min thimāri hādhihi al-ashjār wa min nabāti ’l-arḍ, “I eat from the fruits of these trees and I eat from what grows of wild vegetation. But my real food is dhikrullah, Allah (swt)’s remembrance gives me sustenance and power.”
Alā tashtāqu ilā aḥad, “Don’t you miss someone? Do you yearn for someone?”
“I yearn for the love of my heart, quloobu ‘l-`arifeen, for the Beloved of the hearts of knowers.”
“And from people?”
“The one who yearns for Allah (swt), how can he yearn for anybody else?”
That `abid was in the woods for 24 years, eating from what Allah (swt) allowed nature to give but his real sustenance was dhikrullah. He was with the wild animals but his real companion was Allah (swt). He was yearning to meet his Beloved.
Limā iʿtazalta ʿani l-khalq, “Why did you quit being with people?”
Why did you leave Montreal, New York or other civilization and come to the woods?
“Because they steal my mind. They take away my attention. They distract me. They cut off the way of guidance.”
When we are with people, what do we become? We become ghaafil, heedless of Allah (swt), unless that association is a majlis of dhikrullah. That’s why nothing in dunya is mahmood, praised, except the majaalis of dhikrullah. Everything else in dunya you have to leave except to attend the majalis of dhikrullah.
“You are away from people because they have cut off the way to Allah (swt). When does a servant know the way to Allah (swt)?”
Man ḥāraba illā rabbahu min kulli mā siwāhu, “The one who escapes to his Lord from everything else and the one who is busy with dhikrullah rather than the remembrance of anything else.”
When you become busy with dhikrullah and leave dhikr of others, when you run to Allah (swt) from others then Allah (swt) will open that door for you to find Him. You can find Him anywhere. He is not in one spot. He is not in one direction. He is not only in the east. Everybody turns to the east. He is not only in the west. They turn to the west. He is not north or south, up or down. He is surrounding everything. At everything you look, you can find Him, as Sayyidina ibn Arabi (q) said.
Wa lahu fee kulli shay’in ayah, “In everything He has a sign.” Tadullu `alaa annahu Wahid, “That sign points that He is One.”
In everything you can find Allah (swt). The people who leave civilization and run to the woods, Allah (swt) will open a door for them to know Him and to win the love of Allah (swt) and Jannah. Sayyidina Muhyiddin ibn Arabi, Shaykhu ‘l-Akbar, said, “Who is the winner?” Yeah, you are out in the wilderness, what do you have to reach? Which conclusion or which knowledge do you have to reach to know about Allah (swt)? He said, “The one who does not see actions except the Actions of Allah (swt) is a winner. The one who does not see life except that He is the Alive One is also a winner. The one who sees everybody else as temporary, as leaving this world, and only Allah (swt) is Al-Baqi, is also the winner.”
Our Way is to see everything as coming from Allah (swt): Af`al, Sifaat, Dhat. Tawheedu ‘l-Af`al means you see nobody has an action, nobody is doing according to their will. Everybody is being moved according to Allah’s (swt) Wisdom. You have to see that in action.
When you run to the woods and you leave others, you start contemplating, you start thinking only about Allah (swt) and then you start to see and notice His Actions, His Sifaat and His Dhat. May Allah (swt) allow us to reach that.
We are in the woods. Come join us in the woods. Be in majalisu ‘d-dhikr. Be in the company of good ones, mentioning and remembering the Lord. May Allah (swt) allow us to receive from His Love. He will open to your heart. As He has opened to the others, He will open to the ones who have turned their hearts to Him.
In our hearts there are many things. May Allah (swt) forgive us. Ma siwa Allah (swt), as they say, other than Allah (swt) in our hearts but our Way is to get them out one by one, except the ones who are helping you to reach Him. It’s not that you leave dunya completely and you become a burden on others, no. You have to be sufficient to yourself, your family and others but use what Allah (swt) has given you to continue to find Him and His Way. May Allah (swt) allow us to be from them.
Take Allah (swt) as your Companion. Take Allah (swt) as the One Who gives you uns. Take Allah (swt) as the One Who gives you love, warmth and companionship. Don’t seek it in others because they can disappoint you. The one who you love might be your enemies tomorrow. The ones who are your enemies today might be your friends tomorrow. The One Who always loves you is Allah (swt). You will never lose that Love. May Allah (swt) forgive us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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