Tahir Wyatt – Exquisite Pearl #02
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of recognizing and rewarding actions, building foundation, and doing good deeds. They stress the importance of value time and building foundation for optimal deeds. They also touch on the difference between third and fourth line of deeds and the importance of understanding and value time. The speakers emphasize the importance of value time and building foundation for optimal deeds.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen wa sharafa la ilaha illallah
wa alihi wa s-salihin.
As-shadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu sallallahu
alaihi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam
wa tasliman kathiran ila yawm ad-din.
Amma ba'd, today, we're going to cover the
second lesson of the exquisite pearl.
Inshallah, we start off with some questions first
before we go into the lesson today.
And today, I'm going to slow down the
pace just a little bit.
We'll speed up next week, the week after,
biidnillah.
As we mentioned before, it's only 18 lines
of poetry.
Today, you should have memorized the first line,
which is what?
Sayyidil ladheena tajannabu subul ar-rada wa tayammumu
li manazilat ridwani.
That's what we're going to cover today, but
we're going to go through the author's introduction
first, by the end of the class, inshallah.
We'll prepare for next week, making sure that
you understand what you're memorizing, but I want
you to memorize before class.
It's very important.
Come to class having already memorized.
All right.
So, who is the author of the book
that we are studying?
Anybody?
Go ahead.
Oh, hold up.
No, no, no.
The author.
Did you say Nasser ibn Abd al-Ahmad?
Ah, Abd al-Ahmad bin Nasser al-Saidi,
rahimahullah.
When did he die?
Uh, 1376.
1376.
After the hijrah of the Prophet, alaihi salatu
wasalam.
He was born when?
1307.
When did he write the book?
1330.
You wrote it at 26, wasn't it?
I'll tell you, it was 1333.
Want to make sure, huh?
Yeah, 1333.
Okay.
Why does knowing the author matter?
Why is that even a thing?
Why do we care who the author is?
Go ahead.
Because you need to know who you're taking
your knowledge from.
Yeah.
Nah, because you need to know that the
person that you're taking your knowledge from is
qualified in the subject that you're taking from
them, right?
So what a lot of people may miss
is that just like other fields of knowledge
have specialties, right?
And you're not going to go to a
pediatric or, you know, a physician that deals
with children, so a pediatrician, and you need
a open heart surgery, right?
So they're all physicians.
That's not the right one to go to
for that.
And which actually leads us into our second
point, which is, what is the title of
the book that we're studying?
Okay.
The Exquisite Pearl.
In Arabic, what's it called?
Al-Durra Al-Fakhira.
Al-Durra Al-Fakhira.
Okay.
And it's explaining a poem.
And what is that poem called?
Go ahead.
As-Seir Ila Allahi Wad-Daar Al-Akhira.
Okay.
Which translates to what, by the way?
Journey to Allah and the Hereafter.
Okay.
Okay.
How does the poem's title relate to the
da'wah of the Anbiya?
How does the poem's title relate to the
call of the Anbiya?
Yes.
Tell you, all of the Anbiya came with
that message.
What's that message?
That's what I want you to hone in
on.
Journey to Allah and the Hereafter.
All right.
So break that down for me.
Break that down.
Okay.
So let's take that phrase to Allah.
Okay.
So the first thing that the messengers of
Allah came with was to teach the people
about Allah, Azza wa Jalla.
And this is important because we live in
a very anthropocentric type of ideology.
Everything is about humans.
Everything is about us, right?
Very little focused on Allah, Azza wa Jalla.
So theocentric type of ideology is out the
window and everything is about me.
Oh, why do you wear a hijab?
I wear a hijab because it honors me.
Huh?
Right.
Why do you fast?
Uh, fast because it makes me feel good.
It makes me feel spiritual.
It makes me, me, me, me.
Everything's about me.
Right now, all of those things that are
true, right?
Hijab is honor.
It's not why you do it.
Fasting will make you feel better, make you
feel more connected to Allah, Azza wa Jalla.
But is that why we do it in
the first place?
And I think it's very important that we
get back as Muslims to Taslim, right?
That we submit to Allah, Subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
We do it because Allah says so.
I do it because the one that created
me told me to do that.
And then there are things, there are benefits
that I get out of obedience in this
life and in the next life, right?
But it's really important that, you know, we
begin to reprogram ourselves, especially because we live
in a society that really pushes us away
from Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So much so, I may have mentioned this,
um, last week, but I don't remember.
But there are people who, uh, Muslims, I
mean, you know, people who claim Islam, but
they're not that regular with their Salat, but
they're very regular with their yoga, meditation, this,
because the Salat, I don't, I don't get
that much out of the Salat, but when
I meditate, I feel so good.
It's not about you.
And that's the problem.
The, when you refocus and you are an
abd of Allah and you, and you internalize
that, you will reap the benefits because Allah
knows better what's best for you.
And you may think that, you know, in
the same way, SubhanAllah, that people may not
eat healthy food because it tastes good.
Right?
So the immediate, uh, pleasure that they get
out of it does not bring about long
-term benefit.
And so similarly, when the people think that
they're feeding their soul, Oh, I'm going to
meditate, whatever that means.
Okay.
And that, that's what makes them feel good
right away.
But does they have the long-term benefits
that it's supposed to have?
The point here is that the messengers came
to teach people about Allah.
So to Allah, and what else?
What was the second thing?
Huh?
Right.
As-Sayyid, Ilay, right?
The journey to him, how do you, how
do you do what Allah created you for?
Right?
How do you get to Allah Azawajal?
All right.
And then what?
And then the hereafter, in other words, what?
The rewards, the rewards for those who travel
that path, as well as the, the consequences
for those who do not.
All right.
So this is how the title of the
poem, As-Sayyid, ilallahi wadah al-akhirah, traveling
to Allah and the next life or the
hereafter.
That's how it relates to the major objectives
or the dawah of the messengers, alayhimus salatu
wassalam.
Okay.
Number three, some of the Sahaba said, we
learned Iman before we learned the Quran.
We learned Iman before we learned the Quran.
And then we learned the Quran and increased
our Iman.
Like, what does that statement mean?
Explain that, explain that.
No, you can't, you can't just have a
5% of the class.
We learned about Allah, this is your voice.
So, so the Sahaba, they learned about who
Allah Azawajal is.
Taif, keep going.
I want some more.
Taif.
Okay.
So how can we properly believe that the
Quran, in the Quran itself, until we know
about Allah Azawajal.
All right.
So in other words, to, to know the
speech of Allah, you need to believe in
Allah Azawajal first, you need to believe in
him correctly.
All right, keep going.
Go ahead.
Okay.
So if a person doesn't have the proper
guidelines through the knowledge of Aqidah, then they
might interpret the Quran wrong.
We, we learned Iman first.
Keep going.
Yeah.
Ali.
Okay.
Um, you said that there was, there's a,
for lack of better terms, protocol.
And going with like every, like everybody doesn't
take the same methods, but it has to
be in the method.
Okay.
As far as, as far as learning Iman
first and then going into the Quran and
after learning Iman, because that building of Iman
helps build the Iman when they start learning
the Quran.
Okay.
All right.
So that's, that's close.
Anybody else?
I was going to take a stab at
it.
Okay.
So the basics of Iman, belief in Allah,
his angels, the last day.
Right.
So the idea is this.
Everybody needs a teacher.
Everybody needs to be able to observe somebody
that takes them by the hand, that walks
them through things.
How do you learn Tawakkul?
Because you read in the Quran, I mean,
upon Allah, let the believers put their trust
type.
How do I know what that actually looks
like?
How do I know what reliance upon Allah
looks like?
So I see it in practice.
Right.
So now when I, then when I learn
the Quran, now that increases, that increases my
Iman, all right.
Which Iman has those different levels.
The, the point here, the point here is
the Sahaba emphasizing the importance of a role
model.
We learned Iman.
How?
Like Sheikh Al-Islam Al-Taymiyyah said, because
the Prophet was teaching them Iman without teaching
them the exact words of the Quran.
They were learning Iman through his practice, through
his teachings.
What he, right.
So without actually learning the actual phrases of
the Quran, the ayat, they were still learning
Iman, their hearts were being nourished.
Right.
And I mean, this concept of having a
role model is repetitive in the Quran.
It's in every Surah Al-Fatiha, because you
say, يَهْدِيْنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ And you don't stop.
In Allah Azawajal, In Surah Al-Fatiha, He's
teaching us about role models because he says
what?
سِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهَا The path of those
whom you have favored, which is explained in
Surah An-Nisa من النبيين والصديقين والشهداء والصالحين
From the prophets and the truthful and the
martyrs and the righteous, right?
Sincere, the martyrs and the righteous.
So knowing their path is important, right?
And even Allah Azawajal told his prophet, صلى
الله عليه وسلم To follow the Millah of
Ibrahim.
And اتبع ملة إبراهيم حنيفة So even the
prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم سبحان الله There's
a surah in the Quran that mentions seven
nations of the past.
Seven prophets that were sent to those nations.
And then at the end of that surah,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells the prophet,
صلى الله عليه وسلم Those are the stories
of those prophets that we tell you, that
we recite to you to make your heart
firm, to make your heart firm.
Because even the prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم
Himself needed those examples.
What surah is that?
I have three surahs in a row that
all have names of MBI.
It's the middle one.
Surah Hud.
Surah Hud.
Nah.
What's before Surah Hud?
Yunus.
After Surah Hud?
Yusuf.
Three surahs in a row named after prophets.
The middle one is Hud.
Ta'ib.
The point here is that we learned Iman.
And this is the part that we're talking
about here.
And why this book is so important and
it's important to study it and learn it
is because we all need to take from
the people who came before us, from those
scholars who treaded this path, learn Iman.
Learn Iman.
Tazkiyah is an ilm that has to be
learned.
All right.
And that was the point that we covered
last week.
Ta'ib.
Last question.
Last question.
Which is, what are manazil?
What are manazil?
How many are there?
Explain your answer.
Yes.
Ta'ib.
So manazil is the plural of manzilah, which
is a station.
So manazil are stations.
Okay.
How many are there?
Ta'ib.
Why are we talking about manazil in the
first place?
Yeah, go ahead.
Yeah, because we're talking about a journey, right?
And the prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, actually,
when he approached Ibn Umar radiyallahu ta'ala
a.m. and took him by the shoulder,
he said, He said, كن في الدنيا كأنك
غريب أو عابر السبيل Right?
Be in this life as if you are
a stranger or a commuter.
What's the difference between a stranger and a
commuter?
What's the difference between غريب and عابر السبيل?
Or like the sheikh said the other day,
هتا بالانجليزي ما تفهم؟
Ta'ib.
Go ahead.
Okay.
Okay, so a stranger is somebody who is
residing in a place, but is not from
that place, doesn't intend to be there too
long.
Right?
Go ahead.
So a commuter is just somebody just passing
through.
Right?
They're just passing through.
So which one is like even stronger?
The one that's passing through.
That person has no attachment to the place.
Right?
عابر السبيل.
Just going through.
Right?
Doesn't even like, it doesn't really matter.
They don't have any attachments to the land.
The غريب, somebody that's a stranger in the
land, they still may try to set up
camp, you know, for a little bit because
they plan on being there for a while.
Right?
But they're not like the person that's attached
to the land.
Right?
A person that feels like they're of the
land, in the land.
You know, that's them all day.
They're ready to die for it.
You know, all of that stuff.
Okay.
Ta'ib.
So how many منازل?
Oh, so this is why we're talking about
stations.
Right?
Because a person who's traveling, a person who's
on that journey, there's stations on the journey.
There's milestones that they get to.
They're going to stop here and refuel, keep
going.
So it's stations.
All right.
And so they get to there, to where
they want to go.
How many stations are on that path?
To Allah عز و جل.
Yes.
Okay.
Difference of opinion.
Some say a hundred.
Ta'ib.
That's always the right answer when you say
there's a difference of opinion.
Ta'ib.
In a lot of things, not in everything.
Anybody else?
Anybody else?
We spent some time with this.
Yes.
Oh, 12.
Inshallah.
Okay.
Anybody?
Well, we really do have a difference of
opinion, man.
Anybody else?
Yes.
Ta'ib.
What do you say?
I heard somebody back there.
Like the, yeah, that's what, that's the correct
answer.
The correct answer is there is no number,
right?
It is no, there is no binding number.
Let's just say, all right.
So you will find from the other man,
those who mentioned numbers and the most that
we can say about them is that that's
based on their experience.
Right.
That's based on their experience.
Um, and their extraction from the book of
Allah عز و جل, from the Sunnah of
his prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام, but that there
is no binding number.
Nobody can come and say, you have to,
there's a hundred and you have to go
this before you get the Jannah and that
type of thing.
Right.
Ta'ib.
Uh, we're going to start, uh, we'll, we'll
reread the introduction, uh, because it flows, uh,
into the next part.
Inshallah.
Ta'ib.
Now.
From the.
Read it from, uh, exclusive pearls, exclusive pearls.
Correct me.
Uh, introduction.
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the
worlds.
May Allah expose and send blessings upon his,
upon his messenger Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and
upon his family, companions, and followers.
These are some brief, but beneficial comments to
my poem regarding the journey to Allah and
the home of the hereafter, explaining its meaning
and clarifying its premises.
The poem encapsulates the main stations for the
wayfarers to Allah, which should lead them to
the gardens of delight and to the closeness
of the magnificent Lord.
Ta'ib stop there.
So here he says this poem encapsulates the
main stations for those who are traveling to
Allah Azawajal.
And that is the point here, right?
So we, we mentioned before that Ibn al
-Qayyim rahmatullah alayhi, and we're going to read
something from Ibn al-Qayyim today, inshallah, that
he explained Manazil al-Sa'ireen, ya bi
Isma'il al-Harawi, rahimahullah, in probably the
largest book that deals with Manazil, which is
Madarij al-Sadiqeen.
Madarij al-Sadiqeen.
And, and this poem, basically is a summary,
like a super summarized version of, of Madarij
al-Sadiqeen.
All right.
So we're going to cover those main stations
bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, and this is why,
as we mentioned last week, that this is
a primer on tazkiyah.
All right.
It should also safeguard them from the torment
of the hellfire.
Ma'alish, before you go, he says to
the gardens of the light and to the
closeness of the munificent Lord, and this, subhanAllah,
the closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is something that the believers strive for, and
it's, it's a du'a that's found in
the Quran.
You may know that du'a.
Uh, the author says that the, that these
stations should lead to something.
That is what, if a person follows these
stations, they should lead to gardens of the
light, jannah, and also closeness to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
Yeah.
The du'a of Asiyah, alayhi salam, where
she said, my Lord, build for me close
to you, near you.
Before she, before she specified what she want
built, she specified where she wanted built.
Build for me close to you, near to
you.
A house in jannah.
All right.
From here, they say that the neighbor is
before the house, right?
Look who your neighbor is before.
You have a real nice house, but if
your neighbor is a shaitan, you're not going
to enjoy living there.
It should also safeguard them from the torment
of the hellfire, from the anguish of being
veiled from Allah.
The anguish of being veiled from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
They, the kuffar, are going to be veiled
from Allah azawajal.
And that is one of the greatest punishments
is that they don't get to see Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
I beseech Allah by His benevolence and bounty
that He caused this work to be purely
for His face and for drawing closer to
Him.
We ask Allah azawajal that all of these
gatherings and this explanation and our attempt to
learn are also purely for His face and
help us to draw closer to Him.
Station number one, the awakening.
Realize that what is intended by worship Ibadah
is to serve Allah.
There's a, there's a, I know it's a
recurring theme, but there's an incorrect translation there.
Um, so the, the author actually says, وعدم
أن المقصود من العبدي and not من العبادة.
Okay.
Realize that what is المقصود من العبدي عبادة
الله.
Okay.
That what is required from a servant, okay.
That his whole purpose of existence is عبادة
الله ومعرفته ومهبته والإنابة إليه على الدوام.
Okay, go ahead.
And have, is that a gnosis?
Gnosis.
Yeah, I mean, that's, I mean, usually, usually
that term is used because if there's a,
a sect or a way of the Gnostics,
right?
With a G, G-N-O-S-T
-I-C-S, Gnostics, right?
They are supposed to have like the superior
knowledge of whatever it is that they have
knowledge of.
Just knowledge at the end of the day.
To know and have knowledge of Him.
So, so the worship of Allah and the
knowledge of Allah.
Allah عز و جل says in the Quran,
at the end of Surah Al-Dariyat وَمَا
خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونَ Right?
I've not created jinn and mankind, except that
they worship me.
Okay.
So Allah عز و جل commands us with
His worship.
And this is a, the purpose behind creation.
And He also says at the end of
Surah At-Talaq لِيَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ
شَيْءٍ قَدَيرٍ Right?
So Allah عز و جل created mankind for
both knowing Him and worshiping Him.
Right?
And then, now keep going.
Love Him, continually turn to Him in repentance
and to traverse the paths that lead to
the abode of eternal peace.
دار السلام نعم So we're going to cover
those stations of loving Him and Tawbah and
so forth.
Now, Most people are overwhelmed by their sensational
pleasures.
By their sensual.
By sensual pleasures and are subjugated by their
carnal desires and habits.
Oh, stop there.
We're going to break this down because subhanAllah,
even though this is a very, this is
not a long introduction at all, dealing with
the awakening and dealing with Ibad, but you,
you do have to take note of what
he's saying here.
Most people, the majority of people are overwhelmed
by what?
Sensual pleasures.
Okay.
They are actually slaves to their desires and
their habits and their habits.
And the reason why I want you to
just like put a circle around habits.
Most people, because they are creatures of habits
and they just do them, if they are
not able to transform their habits into things
that are beneficial, then they're destroyed.
All right.
And this is what he's going to actually,
he's going to show that.
And I'm, I'm, I'm mentioning this because this
is a broad concept.
Uh, and different people have different ways of
switching their habits, but this is a broad
concept of what?
Ridding yourself of bad habits, developing good habits.
Okay.
And don't look at something habitual, the worship
of Eliza, being habitual.
Don't look at that as being something negative.
It's not, it's not.
If it becomes robotic, then it's not that
good, but habit and robotic and habit, they're
not equivalent.
So if a person has a habit of
getting up at four o'clock in the
morning every day, that's a good habit to
have, right?
If their habit is not to wake up
until the sun rises, that's a bad habit,
right?
Those things have to have to change.
All right.
If they have the habit of going to
the message for Fudger, wherever they are on
God's earth, that's a good habit.
Okay.
If they approach the Salah and they're not
thinking about what they're doing in Salah because
they become robotic, that's different.
You understand?
All right.
So habits are really, are really important.
And a person does not want to become
subjugated to or slaves to their desires and
their habits.
Yeah.
They give no importance to this matter at
all, nor attempt to make it their basis.
On the contrary, they turn away from worship
and instead preoccupy themselves with their carnal desires.
They abandon it and instead dedicate themselves to
their worldly pursuits.
They do not permit themselves in order to
make up for the time they have squandered.
So in their ignorance and oppression, they are
confused with their soul's desires, they are diverted
from being devoted to Allah concerning their Lord's,
concerning their Lord's remembrance.
They are heathless in their religious practices.
They are, they remiss, they are remiss and
in the drunken love of their habits, they
are blind, they blindly wander.
Yeah.
Those who forgot Allah.
Those who forgot Allah, so He caused them
to forget their own selves.
Such are the corrupt ones.
Right.
So, Nasehu Allah Fa ansa Tayeb Ya ya
ladheena aamanu The ayat is before this one.
Taqoo Allah Wal tanzoo nafsu maa qadamat lighadin
Wa taqoo Allah Inna Allaha khabeerun bimaa ta
'amaloon Wala takoonu kalladheena nasehu Allah Fa ansaahum
anfusahum Tayeb, so there's two things that are
happening here.
All right, just to take it back.
The first is those who are constantly engaged
in some form of muhasabah.
All right.
Wal tanzoo nafsu maa qadamat lighadin Let every
soul look to what is put forth for
tomorrow.
Those are the people who what?
Who are remembering and don't be like those
who what?
Who forgot.
Wala takoonu kalladheena nasehu Allah They forgot Allah.
Fa ansaahum anfusahum And so Allah Azawajal calls
them to forget themselves.
What does that actually mean?
He calls them to forget themselves.
What's that actually mean?
Yeah, to forget that they're slaves of Allah.
Yeah, so there's a broad term.
So they forgot their purpose in life.
They forgot that they're slaves of Allah.
They continue to let them do what they
want to do.
Let them be.
Allah leaves them to themselves.
They forget their own masaleh.
They forget what's beneficial to them.
All right, that's the broad category.
It's beneficial to remember that you're a slave
of Allah.
It's beneficial that you remember that you're going
to stand in front of Allah Azawajal.
It's beneficial to remember the worship of Allah.
All of that's beneficial.
Allah Azawajal, because they forgot Allah.
That the reward and reward in the English
language does not just mean something good.
And Jazaa in the Arabic language does not
just mean something good.
So reward is the consequences of a person's
actions.
So a person, The reward is going to
correspond to the action.
That's it.
That's a rule in Islam, right?
So for example, Allah Azawajal says, Whoever covers
a Muslim, conceals that person's faults.
What?
Allah will cover him in this life and
the next.
Allah will continue to aid his servant.
As long as a person is aiding his
brother.
They forgot Allah.
So Allah what?
Forgot them.
Don't be like those who forgot Allah.
So he caused them to forget themselves, right?
Understand?
Okay, so here what I want us to
recognize Is that the author is basically telling
us what Allah Azawajal told us in the
Quran.
And that is that there's only two categories
of people.
All right, when Allah Azawajal talks about the
Qiyamah, He says, There are those who are
wretched, miserable, and there are those who are
happy.
That's it.
There's no third category.
منهم شقيون وسعيدين Who are the happy, the
successful ones?
They are those who are awake.
They are awake.
And then there's the other category that is
sleep, negligent, heedless of Allah Azawajal.
Those people are wretched.
What did he say about the people who
are asleep or heedless?
He gives us their qualities here.
What is that?
What are their qualities?
He mentions it here.
Mention what you see.
Okay, so they're owned by their desires.
In other words, what?
Because this is important to understand.
Maybe sometimes we don't even realize where we
stand in the whole scheme of things.
What does it mean?
They're owned by their desires.
Yeah, go ahead.
Just scream it up.
They worship the Lord.
They worship the..
What does that look like though?
Worship my desire.
What does that look like?
So, okay.
So they..
Well, what's that look like?
Okay, so they misjudge you to go to
work.
All right.
That's that's that's a way, huh?
Bye.
Honey, they don't fast certain days of Ramadan
so they can do football practice.
Yeah.
Okay, so they..
Being owned by desires means what?
That the thing that moves you or that
stops you is not the deen.
What is it that wakes you up in
the morning?
Work or Salah?
Because that that's going to define what actually
owns you.
Right?
Why do you stay up at night?
Is it for dunya or is it to
worship Allah?
Right?
What is it that moves you or stops
you?
That's what defines, right?
What you're owned by.
It also mentions that Donnie or some of
the other qualities just so that we can
see is that the person's love and hate
is for the dunya.
It's transactional.
Who they love and who they hate is
dunya based.
All right, and that's also something that's very
very important to recognize and Allah azawajal when
describing these people in the Quran, he said
that they have..
They have eyes, but they don't see with
those eyes.
They have ears, but they don't really hear
with those ears.
لهم قلوب لا يفقهون بها But they have
hearts, but they're not hearing with those hearts.
أُولَٰئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْهُمْ أَضَلَّ They are like cattle.
Except that they're actually more stray.
Why?
Because at least cattle do what they were
created for, right?
And these ones don't.
أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُون They are the ones that
are heedless, negligent.
They're sleeping, right?
The opposite of the opposite of اليقظة They
haven't, they do not have wakefulness.
طيب None take heed of this dire neglect
and this enormous calamity except for the few
who possess intelligence and nobility.
Notice that he says the few.
And Allah عز و جل says in the
Qur'an وَقَلِيلٌ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورِ The very
few of My servants, My slaves are actually
grateful, actually appreciative.
Why?
Because they haven't woken up.
They're not awake.
They don't, they take for granted Allah عز
و جل's favors.
And we'll talk about that in a second,
inshallah.
But he, سعد رحمة الله عليه points out
that they are few so that we remember
that they're few.
So that we're not, لا تستوحش من قلة
الصادقين I mean, don't feel like you're lonely
because there's so few people on the path,
right?
Don't, don't be, don't find that to be
something strange.
And don't be, لا تستوحش من قلة الصادقين
Don't be fooled by كثرة الحلقين, by how
many people are destroyed.
Sometimes it's difficult.
It is difficult.
And this is why again, everybody needs that
role model.
You need a circle of friends that are
at least, you know, a few good men
as they say, that think alike, that you
can use.
تستعينوا بهم Even the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام.
I mean, it was difficult for him from
the very beginning when Jibreel came to the
Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام.
He was so happy.
He was a messenger.
That's what happened.
He was scared.
And he went back to Khadijah رضي الله
تعالى عنها.
She was the one that comforted him.
And then early on you had the belief
of Abu Bakr رضي الله تعالى عنه.
When nobody else believed.
And Ali رضي الله تعالى عنه.
And that gave the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم the strength on earth that he needed.
Of course, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
was strengthened by Allah عز و جل.
But even with that, he needed people on
earth that helped to strengthen him.
And even from the Kufar رضي الله تعالى
عنه.
I mean, his uncle Abu Talib رضي الله
تعالى عنه.
who aided the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
in the beginning, protected him from the rest
of Quraysh رضي الله تعالى عنه.
when they were on the attack.
I mean, the point here is that kinlah
doesn't mean alone, right?
A few doesn't mean you're trying to do
this thing by yourself.
That is a super difficult path.
And people need other people.
That's how Allah عز و جل created us.
المرء قوي بإخواني And a person is stronger
with his brothers.
And so that's where the concept of being
tolerant of some of the faults that you
may find with people who are like-minded.
Doesn't mean that you're going to like every
single thing about them, right?
A person who is looking for perfection in
his friend's group will not have friends.
Because they're not going to be perfect.
Just like you're not perfect.
But the point is to be awake.
So here, he says they have this none
take heed of this except for the few.
The few who possess intelligence.
Yeah, they realize?
They realize that the greatest loss lies in
being preoccupied with that which produces nothing for
its doer except predation and misery.
Yeah, so they realize that the greatest loss
comes when you are preoccupied with the dunya,
the end of the day.
As the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام said, مكانة
الدنيا نيته فرق الله شملة Whoever's...
مكانة الدنيا همه Whoever's main concern is this
dunya, فرق الله شملة Allah will cause his
affairs to be scattered.
Now, جعل الفقر بين عيني Poverty will always
be in front of him.
That's all he thinks about.
He's scared to be poor.
لم يأتي من الدنيا And nothing will come
to him from this dunya نما كتب له
Except with that which has already been written
for him.
So they realize that Why am I going
to be preoccupied with nothing that brings...
With this thing that just brings me misery?
There's nobody preoccupied with the dunya that's happy.
No.
Therefore, they prefer the perfect to the imperfect.
They trade the ephemeral for the eternal.
And they bear the burden of legal responsibility
تكليف And worship until it becomes a source
of delight for them And a part of
their very nature.
Ah, stop, stop there.
By which they become leaders.
Okay, so the point...
Look, so what he's saying is that These
people who are not heedless, The people who
have reached that level of the awakening Or
wakefulness, These are their qualities.
They trade in the imperfect for the perfect.
They sell the dunya because they want the
hereafter.
So this dunya is in their hands.
It's not in their hearts.
Right?
They give for the sake of Allah.
They don't worry about how to just get
more and more.
Okay?
Even if it comes through haram means.
And so they trade all of that for
the eternal.
And they bear the burden of تكليف and
worship.
Meaning they deal with the difficulties of worship.
And there's some difficulty associated with worship.
Not abnormal difficulty, But there's some difficulty.
And you get up for fajr.
If that's not what you're used to, It's
difficult in the beginning.
But then what?
Until it becomes a source of delight for
them.
So they enjoy the salat.
It becomes a part, as he says, A
part of their very nature.
Or as we talked about before, It becomes
their habit.
Okay?
Whereas the bad things used to be habitual.
Now good things become habitual.
Okay?
Because they, Like Sufyan said, Or other from
most early scholars, I mean, جهدت نفسي على
قيام الليل 20 سنة.
Right?
I don't even understand what that means.
Okay?
But he struggled against his own self.
His own nafs.
20 years.
What does that look like?
To pray qiyam al-lil.
I mean, you think about it.
You think about a person that does that.
356 lunar days.
Right?
Times 20.
And they just keep pushing themselves.
Right?
I mean, 7,000 times.
Whatever.
Pushing myself to pray qiyam al-lil.
ثُمَّ تَلَذَذْتُ بِهَا.
And then I enjoyed it.
It was, I tasted the sweetness of it.
And iman has a sweetness.
Prophet ﷺ said, ذَا قَطَعْنَا الْإِمَانُ.
Right?
That person will taste the sweetness of iman.
مَنْ رَضِيَ بِاللَّهِ رَبَّنَ مَنْ كَانَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
وَهَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ مَا سِوَاهُمَا.
Whoever Allah and his messenger are more beloved
to them than others.
And to the end of the hadith.
I mean, the point is, There's a sweetness.
And if a person is sick, they're spiritually
sick, they're not going to taste it.
Just like a person has a cold.
It doesn't matter how sweet the dessert is,
they're not going to taste it.
Because they're sick.
A person who is spiritually sick is not
going to taste the sweetness of iman.
That person who has it, they're going to
delight in it.
So like he said, the worship becomes beloved
to them.
I mean, I'll put it to you like
this, and then we'll call it a day
inshallah wa ta'ala.
If any of you have made hajj and
experienced calling upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
on arafah, right?
Mind you, as Allah describes the people in
the hadith al-Qudsi, disheveled, dusty, dirty, exhausted.
Yet subhanallah, there's a sweetness to that that
is not something that can be articulated.
It's just something that has to be experienced.
You can't articulate it, right?
I mean, even though it's difficult, you're bearing
the burden, as he says here, legal responsibility
in worship.
But you can look around and you see
millions of people and you know that they're
all experiencing some type of delight and joy,
right, with that.
Ramadan comes and all of the Muslims are
excited for Ramadan, right?
And the people that have never fasted before,
which is the majority of the people, right,
here in America, trying to figure out why
are you so happy about starving yourself?
That's the way they look at it, right?
Listen, what makes you so happy about starving
yourself, right?
And then if you think about it, and
this is one of the greatest qualities of
the people who are awake, that are going
through this yaqza, is that they believe in
the unseen.
الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ So they believe in the
unseen.
And so you'll see the believers striving in
the last 10 nights for what purpose?
What are they looking for?
Laylatul Qadr, right?
Laylatul Qadr.
Unseen.
Belief in Allah عز و جل is belief
in the unseen.
Belief that there's this thing called Laylatul Qadr,
is iman bil qadr, belief in the unseen,
right?
And you're striving and you're pushing yourself.
And the majority of khalqillah couldn't care less.
And you know what?
You couldn't care less that they don't care,
right?
Because you're awake at that point, subhanAllah.
And everybody, again, is only two categories.
You either awake or sleep, even though there
are levels to each, even though there are
levels in each plane.
So in this last part here, the author,
Rahmatullah alayhi, he mentions that there are some
people who do wake up and they do
not want to sell the permanent, and either
hereafter for which transitory.
They're not selling their hereafter for this dunya.
And so they endure the difficulty associated with
worship until it becomes natural and enjoyable.
And I kind of want us to look
at both of those points before we move
on to this effect.
In other words here, when he talks about
natural and normal, he's not talking about, as
we mentioned before, it becoming mechanical.
He's talking about it becoming their comfort zone,
right?
Such that when they are not in that
state, they're uncomfortable.
Like what?
Like a fish taken out of water.
It can survive for a little bit, but
what's happening?
What happens when you take a fish out
of the water?
It just sit there like this?
What's happening?
It's flat because it's uncomfortable in that state.
It wants to go back into the water.
And so a person who wakes up from
that stupor of being heedless, right?
It's not to ever say that they will
never be heedless, but as soon as they
start feeling that neglect, they get uncomfortable.
And they're not comfortable until they get back
into the state of the remembrance of Allah
SWT, right?
And so that's what a person is pushing
themselves for and they push themselves to the
point that they will, that they will enjoy
it, Like some of the Salaf used to
say, قُلُوا لَوْ أَنَا أَهْلَ الجَنَّةِ فِي مَا
أَنَا فِيهِ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَفِي نَيْهِ Think about that.
If the people of Jannah, the inhabitants of
Jannah are experiencing what I'm experiencing right now,
then they are living a good life.
He's on the dunya, he's in the dunya.
And he's saying if the people of Jannah,
they feel what I feel right now, they
live what I'm living right now, then they
live in a good life, subhanAllah.
In other words, and this is what the
famous statement of Ibn Taymiyyah r.a means,
إنَّ فِي الدُّنْيَا جَنَّةٌ There's a Jannah on
this earth.
مَنْ لَمْ يَدْخُلْهَا لَمْ يَدْخُلْ جَنَّةَ الْآخِرَةِ Whoever
doesn't enter Jannah in this life, the Jannah
of this life, will not enter the Jannah
of the next life because there's a feeling
of closeness to Allah SWT, a real bliss
that a person gets in this life that's
only associated with the worship of Allah SWT.
There's no other way to feel that.
There's no other way to feel that.
So then, you know, when I, to take
it down to like a dunya-y level
if you will, we talk about just the
difficulty of worship becoming enjoyable.
There are physical tasks that are difficult, right?
That becomes so enjoyable to a person that
they can't imagine not doing it, right?
Think about marathon runners, right?
People who work, that's what they do.
They run marathons.
Any of you like find that to be
like something fun?
Just want to go run 26 miles?
No, seriously, right?
Okay, that doesn't sound fun.
For them, they can't imagine not running 7,
10 miles a day.
And if they don't, they don't feel right,
right?
Because they've gotten themselves accustomed, it's a physical
thing, but they've gotten themselves accustomed to that
difficulty to the point that it becomes something
that they cannot imagine living without.
Like people who go to the gym on
a daily basis and they push themselves to
the max and they cannot imagine.
In fact, they don't feel right if a
day goes.
Two days, forget about it.
They're going to have a whole heart attack
because they can't go to the gym, right?
And if they're not experiencing that, then something
doesn't feel right.
They enjoy what looks to the outside like
they're punishing themselves, right?
The noises that they make, the grunts and
the, right?
No judgment zones and all of that stuff.
But what happens?
If they move away from that, they feel
like a fish out of water because they've
grown to enjoy, enjoy that.
This is what the author is talking about
with the worship of Allah Azawajal.
Though there may be some difficulty, you will
grow to enjoy it and it won't feel
right if you're not doing it.
That's part of this, Sayyaf ilallah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Part of that journey to Allah Azawajal.
And so then the author says, So listen
attentively to their description, these people, okay?
And seek the help of Allah in adorning
yourselves with their traits.
Seek the help of Allah.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ And don't think that
it's just going to be because you're trying
very hard.
Not, trying is part of it, but you
have to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You have to seek his aid in becoming
amongst those people.
And as he says, listen attentively to their
description.
And the first thing that he's going to
talk about is that they are the people
who are happy.
سَعِدَ And this is why some of them
said that this poem can be also titled,
سِفَات السُّعَدَة Right?
The characteristics of those who are سُعَدَ happy
and successful.
Thank you.
This is not in your book, by the
way.
You might want to take some notes here.
This is from the منازل السَّعِدِين that talks
about wakefulness or the awakening.
Yeah, go ahead.
Wakefulness consists of three parts.
The first is the heart's beholding of the
bounties of Allah.
While despairing of ever being able to count
them or realize their magnitude, thereafter visiting the
heart with the realization of his greatness graciousness
his graciousness in bestowing them and coming to
full recognition of one's stellar and showing the
necessary gratitude.
Okay, so I'm not going to do like
a long explanation of this.
But the first part is to recognize Allah's
favors and to also recognize that you will
not be able to count those favors or
properly repay them, if you will.
Or properly show gratitude for those favors.
And so, that's when you recognize that it's
all from فَبْلُ لَيْسْ his grace and his
mercy.
Recognize his bounties.
Most of us take them for granted.
We take the fact that we can breathe
without a machine for granted.
We take the fact that we see for
granted.
We take the fact that we can still
hear.
We take these things for granted.
But even more so than that, he died
to Allah, the fact that he has chosen
you for guidance.
How many people have parents that are Muslim
and they're not Muslim?
Just because your parents are Muslim doesn't mean,
does not mean that you take hidayah for
granted.
And for those of us who accepted Islam,
then for sure, then for sure, بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
you won't take hidayah for granted and recognize
that that is the greater favor of Allah,
as we know, than any of the faculties
that you have or anything else.
You don't deserve it.
You don't deserve to be guided.
But Allah, as we know, مَنَّ عَلَيْكَ So
when you realize that this is a favor
from Allah, like right now, you're sitting in
the masjid, so many other people that say
that they're Muslims, they're not here.
Many of them are not going to pray
salatul isha.
فَضْلًا عَنِ الْكُفَارِ Those who just totally reject
Allah, but Allah blessed you.
Allah blessed you to be in the house
of Allah.
I mean, this is a great favor from
Allah, great hidayah that deserves thanks.
And then when you realize that you can't
thank Allah enough, because even your ability to
thank Him and recognizing His favor is a
favor from Him, and you realize that it's
not going to stop.
In other words, that there's no way that
you can properly show gratitude.
And you just realize that this is from
Allah azza wa jal's grace upon you.
Second part.
The second is observing one's transgression and understanding
its danger.
Thereafter, rushing to control it, rid oneself of
its grasp and seek salvation by cleansing oneself
of it.
This is really important.
And that is to recognize your own shortcomings,
your sins, your transgressions against Allah azza wa
jal, which requires some level of muhasabah.
Right?
And this should be done as much as
possible, daily basis, just to really actually recognize
yeah, that was not correct.
Shouldn't have done that.
Not to the point of despairing of Allah
azza wa jal's mercy, but so that you
will be more sincere in your tawbah to
Allah subhana wa ta'ala as He says,
rushing to controlling.
It's what we call damage control.
Right?
Damage control for your sins.
To get a grasp of it, seek salvation
by cleansing oneself.
The cleansing is through what?
Through tawbah.
The control is through damage control.
Istighfar.
Al-hasanat al-mahiyah.
Doing good deeds that will erase the bad
deeds.
Right?
But that total cleansing is really returning to
Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
What's the difference between tawbah and istighfar?
Okay, so with tawbah, you have that firm
resolve that you're not going to commit that
sin again.
Whereas with istighfar, that resolve may not be
there.
But you're still asking Allah to forgive you
though you don't feel like you have the
power yet.
Right?
To not go back to that sin.
Alright?
Which one is better?
Tawbah.
Tawbah without a doubt is more powerful than
istighfar.
But both of them are necessary.
Both of them are necessary.
Allahumma sa'ad.
I'll tell you the third.
The third is paying attention to the passing
of the days and the consequence consequent gains
and losses one accrues throughout them.
Therefore abstaining from wasting them and instead being
protective of them so that he or she
may make up for what he or she
missed of them and make the most of
what remains.
In other words, valuing time.
You cannot reach this station of being awake
until you value time.
If a person constantly wastes time, then that
person is neglectful.
The person hasn't reached this station yet.
They haven't awakened yet.
Value time.
Recognize the passing of the days.
You are but days.
إِذَا ذَهَبَ يَوْمٌ ذَهَبَ بَعْضُكُ When a day
goes, part of you goes.
Right?
So recognize through the passing of the days
and the consequent gains and losses.
Every day you are either gaining like your
scale with Allah Azawajal, good deeds or bad
deeds, the good deeds are either getting heavier
or the bad deeds are getting heavier, wa
liya'adhu billah.
Equal, stagnant is really not a thing.
I mean conceptually, it's a thing.
But in general, a person is either climbing
that ladder towards Allah Azawajal or they're going
down, right?
So recognizing that on a daily, taking advantage
of your seconds, right?
What's 1440?
What is 1440?
Nah.
No, not seconds in a day.
Well, it is actually.
No, no, it's not seconds in a day.
1440 is the minutes in a day.
There are programs built on 1440.
How do you take advantage of your minutes?
Of your minutes?
Tight.
Allahumma sta'an.
Allahumma sta'an.
It's time for the Ikama, huh?
Yeah.
All right, khayr inshallah.
We'll very quickly before the Ikama is called.
We'll go over the two lines for next
week.
I want to pick up the pace for
next week inshallah.
All right, so we will cover these two
lines next week and I want you to
know, be able to pronounce them properly.
فَهُمُ الَّذِينَ أَخْلَسُوا فِي مَشْيِهِمْ Tight.
Yalla.
For those of you who are memorizing, which
inshallah is most of you, just start repeating
inshallah.
Yeah, yeah, even me.
We'll take this.
فَهُمُ الَّذِينَ قَدْ أَخْلَسُوا فِي مَشْيِهِمْ Yeah, actually
that is what it, there should be a
قَدْ there by the way.
قَدْ So you'll see in a second.
Just repeat after me.
فَهُمُ الَّذِينَ قَدْ Even though it's not written.
أَخْلَسُوا فِي مَشْيِهِمْ طيب.
مَشْيِهِمْ Here, مَشِي is to say, مَشِي means
to walk, say the journey.
فَهُمُ الَّذِينَ قَدْ أَخْلَسُوا فِي مَشْيِهِمْ All right.
So that means that here what the author
is going to talk about is Ikhlas.
Okay, they are those who أَخْلَسُوا فِي مَشْيِهِمْ
Okay, they had Ikhlas, sincerity to Allah SWT
in their journey.
Repeat after me again.
مُتَشَجِّعِينَ بِشِرْعَةِ الْإِيمَانِ Okay, so مُتَشَجِّعِينَ means that
they are following the Sharia of Iman.
مُتَشَجِّعِينَ بِشِرْعَةِ الْإِيمَانِ طيب, I see Shaykh Hanif,
you counting the syllables here?
Make sure, because if قد is actually in
there or not.
طيب، أَلْمُوا الْعُرُودُ وَالْكَوَافِرِ طيب، Next line, وَهُمُ
الَّذِينَ بَنَوْا بَنَوْا is to يَبْنِي, to build,
to establish a foundation, right?
مَنَازِلَ What's مَنَازِل؟
Stations, the plural of مَنزِلَ, right?
مَنَازِلَ سَيْرِيهِمْ What's the سَيْر؟
The journey, it's similar to مَشِي, right?
Him is them.
طيب، بَيْنَ الرَّجَاء And this is poetic license
here, because رَجَاء usually has a حمزة at
the end.
So رَجَاء is to hope.
وَالْخَوْفِ طيب، and خوف is what?
Fear.
بَيْنَ الرَّجَاء وَالْخَوْفِ طيب، so between fear and
hope.
لِلْدَيَّانِ Right, as you can see, that's not
in the translation.
Who is الدَّيَّان؟
Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
We'll talk about what الدَّيَّان means from دين.
طيب، again, just listen up.
وَهُمُوا الَّذِينَ بَنَاوا مَنَازِلَ سَيْرِيهِمْ بَيْنَ الرَّجَاء وَالْخَوْفِ
لِلْدَيَّانِ طيب، I don't think we shared.
Inshallah, we'll share.
سلطي، you have it?
Which one?
Yeah, Shaykh Abdul Aziz.
I like his the best.
So, yeah, take that one Inshallah وتعالى.
If it can be shared, I don't know
if there's a group.
Okay, perfect.
Alhamdulillah.
Alright, so you can listen to that بِإِذْنِ
اللَّهِ تَعَالَى Make sure you finish up to
the end of three by next week بِإِذْنِ
اللَّهِ تَعَالَى And we'll continue.
والله تعالى عالم.
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك.
اشهد ان لا اله الا انستغفرك واتوب اليك.