Suhaib Webb – The Repentance of Abu Nawas
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AI: Transcript ©
There's a great story of a person that
we should reflect on. I've always related to
this person because of my own life,
And that's the Tawba of Abi Nawaz.
Abi Nawaz is one of the greatest poets
of the era of what's called a Muaddisim.
Those poets who came like after the time
of the early poets of Islam and after
the Jahili poets.
The Ulema used to say,
Meaning that this person even though he was
incredibly gifted, he was born a Muslim,
he exhibited tremendous talents as an artist.
They say,
He was
someone who suffered with a chemical addiction.
And he actually
he actually has a form of poetry that
we studied in as hard because it's so
beautiful called.
He was also known for being someone who
committed tremendous amount of sin,
all kinds of sin.
But something happened to him. Number 1 is,
even though he was a sinner,
great scholars kept a line open to
him. Most of the ulema in the area
of Basra
they stayed in touch with him with the
hope that one day
Allah's
love will be manifested through his heart, and
he will come back to Allah.
And one of those is the great imam,
Sayidna Wa Imam Mana Ashaafi'i.
Like, can you imagine? Imam Shaafi,
his friends
with a drunk,
like no one would imagine that. Imam Abu
Hanifa, his neighbor was a drunkard. He bailed
him out of jail.
These people weren't, as doctor West talks about,
caught up in righteous indignation.
They understood that the greatest sign of righteousness
is to have hope that Allah will change
people
and to humbly be their bridge to change.
But Abu Nuwas, unfortunately, his
his life continued as it did
and he died.
The Hebi mentions that the people came
to bury him and they went to the
local imam.
And this is like a lot of us.
We run into people who are religious, who
are nice.
We run into people who are religious, who
are like,
So they went to this imam and they
said, you know, we need you to pray
Janaza
on somebody. He's like, okay. And they're like,
Abu Nawaz, he's like, nah, man.
I got something to do.
And they're like, why? He's like, you know,
Sharia, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah.
And there were rumors that he had made
Toba, by the way, that he had repented.
He had been brought in front of the
government on more than one occasion because of
things he wrote about.
So they were despondent, and they went to
his home,
and they began to undress him and prepare
him for washing.
And they found in his pocket a piece
of, like,
poetry.
And his wife said to them, this is
the last poem he ever wrote.
What does the poem say? It says,
Says, oh Allah.
If my sins
are infinite and great,
I believe with certainty that your forgiveness is
greater.
If the only person that can hope in
you are the righteous,
then who will sinners turn to?
The only one who can turn to you
are the pious people,
then who will the sinner hope in and
pray to if there's nothing left?
I turn to you.
I repented to you
as you ordered me
in humility.
And if you refuse my offering, my hands,
then who's gonna be merciful? Like there's no
one else that can be merciful.
Then he says,
The only
bridge I have to you is hope.
And your beautiful transcendent forgiveness
and I'm a Muslim.
When they read this,
they were overcome
and they went back to the imam.
They said you need to read this.
And he said, like, who wrote that? They
said this this is the last Qasidah
of Abu Nowaz.
Then he said, bring him and we're gonna
pray on him.