DeenPort MP3: "Wa Rafa`na Laka Dhikrak" - Muhammad Owais Qadri - Passionate Praise of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)...

DeenPort MP3: "Wa Rafa`na Laka Dhikrak" - Muhammad Owais Qadri - Passionate Praise of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)...

As I've said before...no song is quite as sweet to my ears as Urdu...and among them...this is near the top of the list...

...linked via Seeker's Digest because I haven't quite learned the secret to linking to specific parts of the excellent site that is DeenPort.

:)

Lovers Are Made Aware - Sufistic: Thoughts & Readings

Lovers Are Made Aware

You make a hundred resolutions to journey somewhere,
but He draws you somewhere else.
He turns the horse's bridle in every direction
so that the untrained horse may know there is a rider.

The clever horse is well paced
because it knows a rider is mounted upon it.
He fixed your heart on a hundred passionate desires,
dissapointed you, and then broke your heart.

Since He broke the wings of your first intention,
how do you doubt the existence of the Wing-breaker?

Since His ordainment snapped the cord of your contrivance,
how can you remain blind to His Command?

Your resolutions and aims now and then are fulfilled
so that through hope your heart
might form another intention
which He might once again destroy.

For if He were to keep you completely from success,
you would despair:
how would the seed of expectation be sown?

If your heart did not sow that seed,
and then encounter barrenness,
how would it recognize its submission to Divine will?
By their failures lovers are made aware of their Lord.

Lack of success is the guide to Paradise:
Pay attention to the tradition,
"Paradise is encompassed with pain."

Mathnawi III, 4456-67
- Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, The Pocket Rumi Reader (edited by Kabir Helminski)

...via Sufistic: Thoughts & Readings

Urdu Hamd & Naats - nazmay.com

If no nasheed is quite as sweet to your ears as urdu hamd and naats, then this is for you (and me!)...

Urdu Hamd & Naats

My personal favourites:

• Allah Ho Allah Ho
• Eshq Kay Raang
• Mohammad Jo Ro Kar Dua

Alhamdulillah. May peace and blessings be upon the best of creation, our Master, the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), his family, companions, and those who follow him.

Nourishing Traditions - Eating Well

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

Comes highly recommended from some of the healthiest/wisest people I know.

Being of Service to Others - The Honored Position - Alexandalus

Alexandalus: Shaykh Hussain Abdul Sattar on "Being of Service to Others - The Honored Position"

What should be a guiding principle in our lives, insha'Allah...

Allah's Love - SunniPath

Allah Almighty says, "Say: 'If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you and forgive you for your wrong actions, Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (3:31)

On the signs of Allah's love for His slave...

- courtesy of SunniPath.com

Seeker's Digest - Madad Ya Rasul Allah

Seeker's Digest: Madad Ya Rasul Allah (Your Assistance, O Messenger of Allah!) - Khalid Belrhouzi

Sweetness to the ear...May Allah bless him and give him abundant peace. Amin.

The Food of Hearts

"The food of hearts is wisdom, knowledge of Allah, and love of Him. The heart's turning away from its natural disposition is the result of illnesses that afflict it, as when an illness afflicts a person's stomach, causing him not to desire food or drink though they are a means for his survival. Accordingly, every heart that inclines to love of other than Allah has a sickness to extent of its inclination. The only exception is if it loved that thing as a means to the love of Allah and His religion. This is subtle, however, and only know by those of spiritual insight. The opinion of the one afflicted is of little consequence in this, unless confirmed by his spiritual guide."

- Taken from Sufism and Good Character by Imam Zafar ‘Uthmani, translated by Faraz F. Rabbani (p.29.)

Natural Health & The Islamic Tradition

The "Natural Health & The Islamic Tradition" seminar with Sidi Hakim Archuletta held at George Washington University in March 2005 is now available through MeccaCentric!

Masha'Allah, Sidi Hakim is a Muslim healer in the true sense of the word, may Allah preserve him and continue to benefit us through him.

The Three Ultimate Realities

Someone asked me to post something of what we were recently reminded of. The following, insha'Allah, is something of the spirit of what we walked away with.

An understanding of the three ultimate realities, the awareness of which should guide your every action:

• You
• Your Grave
• Allah Most High
  

The basis of the spiritual path is struggle, not laziness. The one lazy in the path is the one who does not wish to break his habits -- nothing will become of him. He needs to get up.

The words of Rabia al-Adawiyya alone at night, as she spoke to her Lord are indicative of one who truly loved her Creator:

"O my Lord, the stars are shining and the eyes of men are closed, and kings have shut their doors, and every lover is alone with his beloved, and here I am alone with Thee."

If you ask for the Greatest and you sleep all night, you're wasting your time. How rude is the one who asks for Jannah without any spiritual works -- how cheap.

The upshot is that it is necessary to change.

Dua for Protection Against Laziness (SunniPath.com)

How to Increase Iman (SunniPath.com)

A Reader on Islamic Spirituality: Sufism (SunniPath.com)

And success is from Allah Alone.

Those Who Walk Gently on Earth

Alhamdulillah, after being blessed to see Shaykh Nuh Keller and his wife Ustadha Umm Sahl, the following ayah has repeatedly echoed in my heart.

"And the servants of the All-Merciful are those who walk gently on earth and when the ignorant address them, they say, "Peace!"; " (Qur'an 25:63)

وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا

May Allah make us of those who walk gently on earth.

*Also, keep your eye out for Sh. Nuh's breathtakingly beautiful edition of the Dala'il al-Khayrat, Imam al-Juzuli's famous manual of Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). It is by far the most beautifully designed book I own. Masha'Allah.