Hamzah Wald Maqbul – 1439 Ramadn Late Night Majlis 14 MaarifiMasnavi The Planter The Tree and The Camel and The Mouse 05302018
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By the fellow of Allah
we have
reached the 14th night of Ramadan.
Allah
accept from us what's past, and Allah
rectify our shortcomings, and Allah give us something
good,
for the days ahead. Allah give us the
of using its every moment
and using its every day and its every
night for reflection.
And even though it may be difficult for
a person to wake up and go to
sleep and travel,
to and from the Masjid and, do the
things that a person has to do in
Ramadan for the body,
on top of fasting.
It's definitely an enjoyment for the ruh.
It's an enjoyment for the ruh,
for the, the bird that's caged up in
the prison of the dunya. It's it's it's
a delight and it's
a blessing from the lord for which we
cannot be
thankful enough. Allah
make us from those who
are underneath
the the divine grace.
If you are thankful for what you have
Allah will give you an increase,
and and give us this delight and this
happiness,
in this world and in the hereafter.
So today, we wanted to take a break
from the relatively dense material of the,
of the,
Khashul Mahjub,
that we've been reading for the last two
nights and, switched to, another book, which is,
a
a book in which there are small or,
teaching stories,
from the Masnavi of Mawana Jaladin Rumi,
that are commented upon
by the Sheikh Mawana Shah Hakim Akhtar Saab.
Moana Hakim Akhtar,
passed away just a couple of years ago.
He was a sheikh of many of my
good friends and, many of our elders as
well.
And he was an exemplary,
an exemplary representative
of the
and give us from what Allah Ta'ala gave
them. Oh,
Allah, do not
deprive us of their reward,
and do not punish us after they they
left.
And so this is a a small commentary
by Moana Hakim Akhtar Saab,
on the,
the the hikayat or the short
spiritual teaching stories,
that are included in the Masnavi of Molana
Rumi,
and it was ably translated by another elder
of ours who, who,
who, left this abode,
just a couple of years ago, Moana Yusuf
Karan,
who was the father of
Mullana Taha Karan, a student of,
of many great masha'if,
and
a a a graduate back in the old
days of the Darul Lum in Deoban. He
he saw he met Hazrat Molana,
Sayed Hussain Ahmed Madani as well,
before he passed. And, he was
a pillar of the Muslim community in Cape
Town
in South Africa
through the apartheid era and all the way
up until just a couple of years ago.
And his son, Molana Taha Koran Mufti Taha
Koran,
is the Ustad of many,
many ulema both in South Africa and even
a couple in North America. Oona Abdulrahman Yaqoob,
who teaches at Dar es Salaam here in
Chicago,
amongst others, in Toronto and other places.
So he translated he ably translated this, this
work,
into into English. May Allah
make it for all of those who are
mentioned
a sadaqa jaria and tell the So
we'll share some of these we'll share some
of these stories
and
some of the commentary by Moana Hakim Afarsad,
and, when appropriate, maybe share a couple of
our own thoughts.
So,
the first story I wanted to share was
a story of promising to do something tomorrow.
A certain man planted a thorn tree in
the path where people walked.
As it grew bigger and stronger, the thorns
started injuring those walking past.
The people started blaming the planter, but it
had no effect on him. Except for that
he promised every time that the following day,
he was going to remove the tree from
the path.
However, nothing was done about the tree.
At last, the matter reached the governor of
that area. The governor too ordered him to
uproot the tree. The planter promised the governor
that he would do so the following day,
but again, he failed to carry out his
promise.
The result was that the tree grew until
it became very big and strong and sturdy
with roots going very deep into the ground,
and now he was unable to uproot the
thorn tree at all. So this is the
Muqaddimah,
the introduction to the Hekiah,
by Moana
that was written by Moana
in order
for people to have the context,
the context of
of what Moana Jalaluddin Rumi would then talk
about allude to in his verse,
which is also translated into English.
Mawana's verse in translation,
the bad tree grew into a strong young
tree, while the planter became old and weak.
The thorny tree was every day becoming healthier,
and the uprooter was becoming daily weaker.
Oh, listener. Very often you have become grief
stricken
over your evil deeds, and very often your
evil deeds brought you regret and the desire
to repent.
So often you have become helpless at the
hands of your evil deeds and devastated.
Have you become senseless?
Have you become senseless to an overwhelming degree?
Oh senseless one,
arise and rectify your old previous bad habits.
Rise, take up the ax, and attack like
a man.
Like Sayna
Ali
who uprooted the gate of Khaybar.
This is, an exhortation by Moana to the
person
who has sins to get up and
move with regards to their self rectification
rather than to be like that, that that
man who let the tree grow so big
and powerful and strong and firm and sturdy
that he was unable to uproot it anymore.
Rather, he gave the heroic example of
who uprooted the gate of Khaybar.
That Khaybar was
a series of fortifications,
one of which, Sayna Ali who
single handedly
lifted open and uprooted the gate and threw
it out, allowing the Muslim army to stream
and and and have victory.
Lesson, Mawlana Hakim after writes,
in this story, Moana gives Moana meaning Moana
Rumi, generally in this book whenever the word
Moana is used, unqualified,
it refers to Moana, Jaladin Rumi. In this
story, Maulana gives the advice
that a seeker of truth and seeker after
Allah should never put off for tomorrow the
rectification of evil deeds and habits.
Never should they say, I will rectify and
change my habits tomorrow,
And when tomorrow comes along, then again say
the same.
In this way, Shaitan causes that promise of
tomorrow to continue,
and until the time and continue again and
again until the time that death arrives.
Then the one making the intention will enter
the grave without rectification and will enter disappointed
and Shaitan will rejoice. Just as the thorny
tree which was planted could, in the end,
not be uprooted by the planter,
in
In the same way, the longer a person
takes to discard or rectify bad habits,
those bad habits will become stronger at the
roots.
As the days and nights will pass,
Bayou, you will become older and weaker, which
will make the discarding and rectification of evil
habits very difficult.
For this reason, rise up without any delay
in procrastination.
Grab an axe of courage and uproot the
door of evil, just like Sayidna Ali uprooted
the gate of Khayr and threw it to
the side.
And just as Sayna Ali
was granted great help in being in the
company of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, you should
also join forces with the Oliya of Allah
and the friends of the Messenger of Allah
Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam, meaning the Ulema and the Mashaikh,
and the pious, and through their company acquire
the help and bounty of Allah.
Hazrat Malana Tanu
says, even these days, no position of sainthood
is open and unoccupied.
Whether it is the rank of Qutubhoth or
Abdul,
all these ranks today are filled. And this
is a reference to an author, attributed to
say,
in which he describes
the
Obviously, everyone who says
is
a a friend of Allah and underneath his
his protection and guardianship.
But this author describes the elite ranks of
those who are, the friends of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala,
and
it gives
names,
to, to those ranks as well. And so
you'll you'll hear these terms, like, Qutub,
hroth, and abdal. The abdal are the the
40,
the kotob are according to some, the 3
or the 4, and according to some, the
1, and the is the 1,
meaning what? That you have,
ranks
of the saints saints of Allah, the holy
of Allah, ranks of sainthood,
that are
that are ranked according to the number of
people that hold them.
So the is
the the the the one who is at
the top position. So the of this ummah
was the messenger of Allah
and then after he passed away, he was
Saidna Abu Bakr as Siddeef, and then after
he passed away, it was Saidna Amr Farooq
And
after he passed away, it was Saidna Uthman
And after he passed away it
was
And after he passed away, then it became
hidden
who that person is. It became hidden and
until the day of judgment,
it will it will remain hidden. Although some
people may be privy to such information,
generally, the people who are privy to such
information are not the ones who are going
to divulge it, and they're probably gonna be
the one who tells you, it's me,
just in case. There's a reason that a
lot of these things are not mentioned publicly.
Because the ulama are apprehensive,
that once this knowledge is out, there are
great many people. Mu'minuzirun
Karim,
the Rassoul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he described the believer as as being
gullible
and being,
generous.
And so,
unfortunately, a lot of these things, once they're
spread between people,
evil people take advantage of the gullibility of
the gullibility of of the masses, and so
they'll convince them someone that I'm this or
I'm that or I'm the other thing. Don't
tell anyone. I saw a dream, blah blah
blah, and people, you know, people by and
large buy it.
Trust me, anyone who is in any of
these ranks,
they're not gonna make dua to themselves. The
type of person who is gonna share this
information with another person probably
will never make it, probably will never make
it anywhere close to any of these ranks.
However, sometimes Allah Ta'ala will lift the veil
and show the people that such and such
person is a a a person of station
with Allah
and sometimes that person will be aware of
it, sometimes they won't. Sometimes the people will
be aware of it, and sometimes they won't.
But Hazratan
says even these days, none of those ranks
of sainthood are are are unoccupied or open,
unfilled. Whether it's the rank of Khutob,
or Gouth or Abdal. Abdal is the plural
of the word Abdali
and Abdal are 40. There are always 40
people of that rank. And the author of
it's mentioned that every time one of them
dies,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will immediately
fill another person
in that rank. So people are pious and
hardworking
and whatnot, but this is kind of like
a these ranks are a special,
a special gift of Allah
to those who he chooses to fill them
in. And,
those are those are manasib. Those are positions
and stations that are filled with the help
of Allah Ta'ala.
So again,
you know, my cautionary notice this is that,
you know, the people get fascinated by these
types of things and they kinda lose the
point.
The point is what? That the help of
Allah Ta'ala is there with Umma. Whether you
know who those people are or you don't,
or whether, you know, you wanna, you know,
someone tells you, okay, I'm the kotobur, I'm
Abduliz, so, you know, donate money to my
whatever cause or take Bey'ah with me and
start washing my clothes or whatever.
You know, that's all a distraction. It's a
freak show. Put it to the side. The
point is that the help of Allah Ta'ala
is always there. It never leaves the ummah
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and
it never leaves the individual
who says La ilaha illallah.
And they're there for what? Their high rank
and their help is there to be help
for the Ummah of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
And so in your own suluk, you're joining
with them also will, in your own journey
toward Allah Ta'ala, you're joining with them will
also be help for you.
These saints, Hazrat, Moana Hakim Hafrsab continues.
These saints
who in your side are looked upon as
being a a wretched condition and are considered
worthless after a 100 years of history
will be looked upon as,
Imam Junaid or Milana, Jaladin Rumi or as
Fariduddin Athaar or as the Shibli of this
age. Meaning what? That oftentimes the people, in
order to reach that rank, the difficulty they
have to go through, their contemporaries
their contemporaries
may not see,
what's there in them.
It is foolish to argue like this. Where
do you find saintly men today like those
in the past?
And the answer to that question is what?
That in the past, just like their contemporaries,
were not, you know, enthralled with them, just
like that. Today, they exist, and you may
not be enthralled with them because you don't
like the way they dress or you don't,
you know, you wish that, you know, they
had more money or whatever. But the idea
is that if you look at the person,
the only thing in their life that's important
to them is Allah Ta'ala and His Rasool
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, then you know that they
are there just like they were there in
the generations past.
It is foolish to argue like this and
say, where do you find saintly men today
like those in the past?
This is a satanic deception,
which wishes to keep us deprived of the
blessings of such people.
Do we find anyone complaining today that for
physical ailments, where do we find,
great doctors like Galen or, a a a
Socrates or a Plato?
No. We only,
we we only go to the present day
doctors for treatment.
Meaning what? Even though
those people who are there that have the
ilmen, have the salah, and have the taqwa,
and the piety,
even though,
you know, they may not be as prestigious
in your eyes as the great names of
the past, just like we're not going
to yearn for some sort of ancient, physician
that's already dead. We're just gonna go to
the clinic and get help Just like that,
we should also go to the clinic today
and get help,
spiritually.
Similarly, in the event of spiritual or internal
illness and for their rectification, we should contact
the present day followers of the sunnah who
have been granted permission by the elders to,
take other people,
and guide them on this path. We should
consult them and start our own self rectification.
Neither should we delay rectification,
until we find a quote unquote, shift to
take be'a with,
because the be'a even if it's considered sunnah,
it's meaning it's something that, a person even
if they don't take it, they're not technically,
leaving any part of din.
While the idea idea of rectification itself is
itself an obligatory duty. Meaning, if you're not
the disciple of any particular shaykh or you
don't want to take with them, your self
rectification is still a
It's still an individual duty upon yourself. So
if you don't like the idea of taking
up the initiatic discipleship of a particular shift,
I'm not gonna argue with you. A person
should think long and hard,
before jumping into something like that and not
jumping into it impetuously,
impetuously or or, you know, on a whim.
However, whether or not you find a shift
in the classical sense that the that that
that, you know, used to be the the
the norm of of of the the soul
for the classical period.
Your own self rectification is still a a
an individual
and personal obligation,
on you that Allah will expect.
So don't delay,
getting the rectification until you find a sheikh.
Rather, keep the company, the pious, and the
righteous, whoever the best people are you can
find. And then the rest of it, if
it works out one day, great. And if
not, you still, have to get going with
your own self rectification.
However, after starting the process of rectification,
if one finds himself agreeable to it, then
he also may enter into,
such a an agreement considering it as sunnah,
because the Sahaba
whom they
they
entered into, this oath of fealty with the
messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and,
through it, a special connection is formed which
increases benefit.
Allah
give us, give us tawfiq.
One of the things I wanted to mention
about this story about uprooting sin
as well
is that,
you know, Hazratanri
something that he said
as a recommendation for the ulama was that,
if a
a a scholar finds,
himself,
with a particular weakness,
then he should,
preach about that weakness to the people, which
is somewhat counterintuitive.
The the idea amongst many of the old,
the salaf was that a person, if he
preaches about something that he hasn't rectified himself,
he's a hypocrite and his words are not
going to have an effect.
Azrutani
saw the sickness of the age that we
lived in, and, he said, no. Preach about
it,
because,
preach about it because,
if you have any shame inside of yourself,
if you keep saying something about it, Insha'Allah,
one of the people affected by your bans
will be you yourself, Insha'Allah.
And,
if nothing else than through shame, you'll,
you'll take you'll take the advice yourself, which
is not your own advice, rather it's the
advice that's handed down to us by our
and our elders.
So nobody
go and say, look, Hamza gave this wonderful
bayan, and, he didn't take the advice himself.
Nobody nobody in front of Allah ta'ala say
anything like that. Nobody,
in front of Allah, I'll be surprised if
they see what my state is. Rather,
Insha'Allah, I myself,
pray to Allah that if nothing else than
through shame, I'll also take this advice and,
leave,
leave,
the path of wretchedness
in my own deeds and in my own
life, whether whether whether it be big or
small. And, hopefully, if we all make dua
for one another, Allah will get us through
it, and he'll forgive
us. The next story is an important story
as well.
The next hikaya is,
1,
which
amongst other things,
shows the blameworthiness
and the censure
of people who seek leadership.
Seeking leadership, if you're qualified for it, in
and of itself is a sin in our
deen.
And, if you're not qualified for it, it's
even worse. And unfortunately, our our masajid and
our MSAs and our,
you know,
our Muslim organizations,
and, unfortunately,
even sometimes our as
well.
Keep them protected.
All of them. Protect all of them.
They have people who oftentimes will jockey for
leadership or put themselves into leadership.
And it's bad enough if they're qualified,
for them to jockey for for the leadership
of their own nafs and the imara of
their own nafs. But,
it's it's it's even worse. It's much worse
and much uglier if it's,
if it's for, you know, by done by
a person who's not qualified.
So this is the hikaya that Molana reads
or Molana shares in his Masnavi,
of
the mouse leading a camel by the reins.
Moana Hakim Akhtar Saab, gives the setup for
the for the verses. He says, once a
mouse took hold of the reins of a
camel
and tried to run away with him. The
camel seeing the foolishness of the mouse became
submissive and relaxed.
Wherever the mouse led him, the camel followed
meekly like a slave obedient to his master.
They went along until they came to a
river where the mouse lost his presence of
mind and and came to a standstill.
He started thinking that up until this moment,
he had led an animal of great size,
and up to now, he had enjoyed the
honor of having made the camel submissive to
him. But now that they've come to a
river, how can he lead him through that?
While thinking, he came to a standstill.
Molana,
writes in verse,
translated into English, The mouse remained standing there
and became dried up. The camel asked him,
oh, my companion over mountains and forests, why
this hesitation? Why this perplexity?
Take courage and step into the river. The
mouse answered, I'm afraid of becoming drowned.
The camel replied, let me see how deep
the water is and whether you will drown
or not.
He placed one leg into the water and
said, oh, mouse, my sheikh, my guide, the
water is only up until my knee, so
proceed leading me through. The mouse replied, the
water only reaches up to your knee. That
is so many times over my head.
There's a big difference between your leg and
mine.
The camel said, please do not become rude
and insulting. Come straight into the water and
guide me along.
Up to now, you used to be very
proud of having led me, and you acquired
great honor through that. Oh, you foolish one.
I allowed myself to be led by you
so that your foolishness may be
increased and so much more manifest.
The mouse replied, for me to enter the
water will be my destruction. I am repenting.
Please pardon me. After this, I shall not
even think about becoming your leader or sheikh.
The camel said sorry. The mouse said,
for Allah's sake, I've repented of my sins.
Kindly save me from these dangerous waters.
The camel on hearing of the repentance of
the mouse felt sorry for him and said,
alright. Come sit upon the hump of my
back. Another 100 mice like yourself can sit
upon my back with safety and cross over
the water.
Remain a subject if Allah did not make
you a ruler,
and do not sail in a boat if
you did not learn to sail.
Grant your copper to the men of alchemy
so that they, through your company with them,
can change you to gold.
If you are like a stone, senseless and
deprived of the fear of the hereafter,
seek the company of a Wali and become
changed into a pearl.
And refrain from criticizing the or
from accusing the king of theft, for what
need does the king have of stealing.
This last,
these last illusions were what? He said that
remain a subject if Allah did not make
you a ruler. Don't seek to be a
ruler, lest you be also the mouse that
has the river in front of you.
If it happens on the day of judgment,
then there's no camel to bail you out.
You're gonna sink.
Do not sail in a boat if you
do not learn to sail, and grant your
copper to the men of
alchemy, so that they through your company with
them can change you to gold.
Which is a reference to the the people
of Allah, that if you wish to
be someone who Allah loves, keep the company
of the one who Allah loves so that
their color will rub off on you. There's
no other way of,
of getting the love of Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Like Allah Ta'ala said in his book to,
the messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
To the people. If you love Allah then
follow me so that Allah may love you.
The love of Allah doesn't produce Allah's love
back rather the following of
of the prophet
for the Sahaba is what produced it.
That a person should love Allah is the
impetus for them following the prophet
and and the following of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam is what what makes Allah
love them back.
And and
from the following of the Sahaba of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is, following those
who follow those who follow those who follow
those in a unbroken chain back to the
messenger of Allah.
Not only do you learn the sunnah as
a piece of theoretical knowledge, but you also
learn it in the method of the sunnah,
which is person to person, heart to heart,
tongue to tongue,
which is the the the living tradition of
Islam.
And grant your copper to the men of
alchemy,
so that they, through your company with them,
can change you into gold.
If you are like a stone, senseless,
deprived of the fear of the hereafter,
Seek the company of a Wali and become
changed into a pearl.
Meaning what? Keep the company of a Wali
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that same
stone that had no use, it will become
something of value. A value to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Refrain from criticizing the oliya.
Why? Because if you take potshots at the
only, you know, thing that can help you,
then don't be surprised one day if you
have no help.
And refrain from accusing the king of theft.
For what need does the king king have
to steal?
The king is Allah
Refrain from having a bad opinion of Allah
Refrain from accusing the king of theft. What
need does the king have to steal?
Allah already has everything.
Don't accuse of Allah Allah
of ruining things for you. He you're not
significant enough for him to have an axe
to grind with you,
nor,
nor does Allah
need to harm or cheat anybody. Rather, he
gives both hands are open by all hours
of day night, and he gives whoever asks
him. Even those who don't ask him, he
gives. Even those who have oppressed him, even
those who have who have, not oppressed him,
but those who have wronged him. He gives
them by day and by night,
so let nobody accuse him of having stinted
them,
because
Allah doesn't need to do that.
Moana Hakim Akhtar
Saab, then
comments,
the oliya of Allah carry a precious treasure
within themselves.
In their sight, the whole world is insignificant
and worthless
because their hearts have become joined to the
creator of this world.
Hence, do not underestimate them and do not
compare your nights with and days with theirs.
Do not become deceived by your worldly dignity
and honor like that mouse was deceived.
If you ever should consider yourself superior to
the saintly ones, you will become humiliated and
deprived of good.
In the end, like the mouse, you too
will have to sit upon their backs with
the purpose of crossing over to safety.
And like the mouse, you too will have
to repent.
And that's if you're
that's if you're fortunate.
Otherwise, there are some people who don't get
that chance until it's too late. Allah protect
us from being, from the ill fortunate or
from those of a bad destiny.
Hence, from the 1st day, remove from your
mind the love and splendor of this world,
worldly honor, worldly wealth, esoteric knowledge, or and
soulless actions.
Remove,
these loves from your mind and form sincere
contact with a person of Allah ta'ala.
Within a few days, you will come to
know that you will swear what abundance of
benefit it has brought you.
Use worldly wealth.
Do not love it more than Allah and
his Rasool
And then Moana,
Hakim Akhtar Saab, he quotes,
he quotes
some verses,
of Khaja Azizul Hasan Majzub,
who was a a very devoted disciple of
Moana Asha Fali Tanwi
and, a very eloquent tongue which described,
different facets of the spiritual path toward Allah.
He he quotes him in,
then translates his verse into English.
He quotes Hajaziz al Hasan Majzub
in in poetry. He said in in praise
of his Sheikh, Moan Asher Fali Tanri.
You have faced the effect of idols and
you enabled me to witness the grandeur of
Allah.
You transformed my eyes into such eyes that
can see the reality and turn my heart
into one that can perceive the greatness of
the creator.
My heart was engulfed in negligence when suddenly
you became when you suddenly you acquainted it
with Allah most high.
Thus, you made me unconcerned with all besides
him.
Practicing deen seemed like a burden in the
past while being engrossed in this world seemed
easy. Now you have made the burden a
pleasure, and what seemed to be a pleasure,
has become a burden. You have imbued me
with courage and ushered this weakling into such
ranks.
The ranks of those endowed with great responsibility
of conveying the deen.
This heart of iron, you have melted with
a a, with a heart burning with the
love of Allah.
This heart of iron, you have melted with
a heart burning with the love of Allah.
And the the the reference, by the way,
to iron is is
is from the traits of jahannam.
That Allah, he mentions the iron will be
the the,
the chains of iron will be the the
the clothing of the people, the hellfire.
So he says the heart of iron, you
have melted with a heart burning with the
love of Allah most high.
You have made
restless one who had never experienced this pain
the pain of this love of Allah.
Oh Majzub, he says to himself. Oh Majzub,
you are leaving this home with a great
fortune. A million thanks that Allah sent me
to your door.
These are the,
the words of the and
the people who love the.
Give all of us so much to find
somebody,
and find,
not just one person, but find good company
and keep us in the company,
of those who love Allah
and those who are who have made it
with Allah
Allah give us the the fortune of finding
the company of a sheikh. And,
when we found 1 or before we found
1 or even if we don't find 1,
give us the company of those people who
have turned their backs on this material world,
and who have,
taken the path of traveling toward Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Because the journey is gonna happen one way
or the other, it can happen the easy
way or the hard way. Fortunate and beloved
by Allah to Allah are those ones who
prepare for it right now.
And how strange and wondrous are the the
the
people of Allah
Allah and how wretched are the,
how wretched are the people of the dunya,
like was described in the, biographical entries
either yesterday or day before,
that one of the described the people of
Allah,
that they're the ones who even in their
death, they're
ever living. And he described the people of
the duniya
that even in their this life, their they
have all of the and all of the
attributes of the dead. Allah make us from
the former and protect us from being the
latter or ever loving or wanting or desiring
to be, any of the latter. Allah to
give all of us so much