Qad Kafani Again!

Another beautiful version of the blessed qasida. This is sung by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad in a style that is simply haunting.

Qad Kafani Illmu Rabbi

The celebrated poem of Imam Haddad (ra). I posted another version back in 2009. Just love it!

“Run forward, t…

“Run forward, the way will spring open to you
Be destroyed, you’ll be flooded with life
Humble yourself, you’ll grow greater than the world
Yourself will be revealed to you, without you.” ~Rumi

منقبت حضرت خادم ِمحبت

ہے نور ِعبادت سے چہرہ ضوبار ہمارے راجہ کا
اور عشق کے تیروں سے چھلنی دل افگار ہمارے راجہ کا
ہر سمت سے میکش آ آکر عرفان کے ساغر پیتے ہیں
توحید کا بادہ خانہ ہے دربار ہمارے راجہ کا
اخلاص و وفا کے ہیروں سے بھرپور ہیں اسکی دکانیں
ہے شہر ِ تصوف کی زینت بازار ہمارے راجہ کا
ارباب ِوفا کے ہونٹوں پر ہیں تزکرے انکی عظمت کے
ہر خضر ِ طریقت کرتا ہے پرچار ہمارے راجہ کا
ہر کنج میں نخل ِتازہ ہیں ایمان و سکوں و الفت کے
اک خلدِبریں ہے دنیا میں گلزار ہمارے راجہ کا
وہ حسن کے جلووں میں ڈوبا ابھرا تو مجسم حسن تھا وہ
اک بار کیا جس نے آکر دیدار ہمارے راجہ کا
مشرق سے لے کر مغرب تک ہیں چرچے انکی سیرت کے
بے مثل ہے سارے عالم کردار ہمارے راجہ کا
ہم لوگ کسی بھی حالت میں محکوم نہیں ہیں غیروں کے
ہے راج ہماری دنیا میں اے زار ہمارے ر۱جہ کا

A Du’a of Sayyidi Shaykh al Akbar (ra)

‎”May God place us upon insight in our affairs and not allow us to transgress that which is demanded by our station!….May He preserve us from His deception and not place us amongst the people of imperfection (ahl al-naqs)! May He provide us with increase (mazid) and advance (taraqqi) in this world and the next!”

as-Shaykh al-Akbar, Sayyidi Muhammad Ibn al-Arabi (radhi Allahu anhu)

Rare Interview of Hz Shahab (ra)

I came across this today and felt I ought to share it here. It’s a pleasure to hear his voice. May God be well pleased with him.

The Message of Iqbal

Allama (Muhammad Iqbal) has been in my thoughts a great deal lately. He has been a faithful and inspiring guide since about the age of 13 and I feel deeply indebted to him. As it happens Allama passed away on the 21st April so this is a good time to reflect once again on the man and his teachings. Perhaps this is a worthy subject for the future, insha’Allah. For now, I am posting a beautiful rendition of his poem “La ilaha illAllah” from Zarb e Kaleem. This sums up his message in many ways.

The Universality of the Arif

Imam al-Junaid of Baghdad (ra) said:

“The Arif (knower) could not be an Arif untill he is like the earth upon which the pious and impious walk; and like the clouds that spread over everything; and like the rains that descend upon all places quite without any likes and dislikes”.

An Interesting Quote on al-Hallaj

Nicholson sums up the case of Hallaj in the following words:

“Hallaj was so deeply in earnest that it was impossible for him to compromise his conscience. Against the public authority of the Muslim Church and State he sets up the personal authority immediately derived from God with whom the saint is one. And he was no theorist like Junaid; he was suspected of dealings with the Carmathians, he had preached his faith to infidels and believers alike, and, above all sought to win converts by working “evidentiary” miracles. On these grounds he was justly condemned. His crime was not that, as later Sufis put it, “he divulged the mystery of the Divine Lordship”, but that in obedience to an inward call he proclaimed and actively asserted a truth which involves religious, political and social anarchy.”

Pg 46- The Life, Personality and Writings of Al-Junaid.

Shaykh Abdal Hakim on Modernity

This is an excellent talk by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad of Cambridge University on what the Muslim response to Modernism ought to be.