'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XIII

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, Allah by His grace, mercy and kindness has once again given me the opportunity to continue on the subject of my sermon on the duahs, more specifically the duahs which are found in the Holy Quran.

By the grace of Allah - I do not know how to thank Him for the blessed opportunities He has granted me to speak on this important subject and at the same time to take the opportunity to recite these duahs to you, and for your good and mine also. 

Certainly, all of this is the result of the Spirit [i.e. the Holy Spirit], which has been caused to descend like a flame upon me and which will intoxicate you with the love of God which flows through my heart. Caught in this state, I spend my time remembering God, not to complete some formalities or to appear so, but because God is going to make my spiritual life, which I love, dependent on this food which is the remembrance of God, just as he made the bodily life of man dependent on physical food. Just as he would swallow an unpleasant-tasting medicine to cure himself, in the same way, it is important that man persevere in his practice of Salat (prayers), and continue to beg God even if he does not derive any pleasure from it.

Faced with such a situation, we, the human race, believers in the Unique God, will have to, through the following supplication, seek pleasure and joy in our Salat, in our supplications to God. This pleasure will come little by little and that too in an illuminating way. We must pray for the mercy of Allah [Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim]:

Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa il-lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna la-na-kunanna minal-khaasirin.

Our Lord, we have acted unjustly towards ourselves! If You don’t forgive us and if You don’t have mercy on us, we will certainly be among the losers!

When you desire victory, success, and divine judgment in difficult situations, call upon God as follows:

Rabbanaftah baynana wa bayna qawmina bil-haqqi wa anta khayrul-faatihin.

Our Lord, make a decision between us and our people. You are the best of judges/ arbitrators!

Rabbana afrigh ‘alayna sabran wa tawaffana muslimin.

Our Lord, pour endurance on us and grant us death in complete submission to You!

Rumi's Poem: 'When I Die'

'I know that the day will come 

when my sight of this earth shall be lost, 

and life will take its leave in silence, 

drawing the last curtain over my eyes.

Yet stars will watch at night,

and morning rise as before,

and hours heave like sea waves 

casting up pleasures and pains.' 

                                          -------Tagore, 'Last Curtain'.

“We have indeed decreed that death shall be ever-present among you: but there is nothing to prevent Us from changing the nature of your existence and bringing you into being anew in a manner as yet unknown to you.”--- (HQ, 56: 61)

Born on 30 September 1207 and died on 17 December 1273, Hazrat Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (ra) is among the greatest saints of medieval Islam. One of the finest minds of the last millennium, Rumi’s works have truly travelled far: from the Persian-Islamic world, finding its admirers among human communes around the world,the writings are widely-read  today. Rumi means many things to many different people, and attempts are also being made to ‘secularize’ Rumi by declaring him a ‘new age poet’ in the West today; yet the fact remains that Rumi famously counselled everyone to ‘sacrifice your intellect at the feet of the Prophet.’  

His greatest work, the ‘Masnavi’ is, in many ways, a commentary to the Qur’an in the Persian language; explicitly  acknowledging at the very beginning that the Book is an exploration into the heart of Faith- in terms of unveiling the mysteries of attainment to the Truth and of certainty. Almost eight centuries after his lifetime, Rumi continues to speak to every generation through his spiritually-infused writings and poems, reminding us about the human condition through the parables and images of everyday life. Indeed Rumi’s words are quintessentially rooted in Zikrullah, in order for us to remember God and to reform our individual and social morals, and to benefit from the Divine promises for the truly devout in the life to come.

Reproduced Below is a poem from The Dîwân-é Kabîr (also known as "Kulliyat-é Shams" and "Dîwân-é Shams-é Tabrîz"; Ghazal 911):

When I Die

when my coffin

is being taken out

you must never think

I am missing this world

don't shed any tears

don't lament or feel sorry

I'm not falling

into a monster's abyss

when you see

my corpse is being carried

don't cry for my leaving

I'm not leaving

I'm arriving at eternal love

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XII

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah - By the Grace of Allah, it is the twelfth week today since I have been speaking to you about “duahs” (invocations or supplications to Allah, The Unique God) in my Friday sermons. Today I present to you some “duahs” that are found in the Holy Quran. All the movements in prayers [be it in Salat & duahs] express the deepest humility before God. The tongue and heart, body and soul come together to sing the praises of God and to praise His Glory and Greatness, and to express verbally and concretely the most complete state of weakness and humility of man. In the Holy Quran Allah (swt) has shown us many duahs through His Messengers. Now I present to you these few Quranic duahs. 

To seek the good of this world and the hereafter:

Rabbana aatina fid-dunya hasanataww wa fil ‘akhirati hasanataww waqina ‘azaaban-naar. Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire!  

Rabbana hablana min azwaajina wa zurriy-yatina, qurrata ayuniww-wa-jalna lil-muttaqeena Imaama. Our Lord! Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous. 

Rabbi innii limaa anzalta ilayya min khayrin faqiir. My Lord, I am in great need of whatever good You bestow on me.  

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XI

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah I continue on the series of sermons on “duahs” (invocations). Today, we shall hear the invocations which the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) used to pray. He gave importance to Salat (prayer) and how to beautify our Salat with duahs (invocations) and praises of Allah and His Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).

The Promised Messiah (as) says: Salat is very important and it is the apex of the spiritual exaltation of the true believer. Salat is the best medium of interacting with God in prayer.  

Salat is nothing but presenting oneself before God Almighty, and it is a combination of praising God and an attempt at the expiration of one’s sins. One who does not keep these purposes in view, derives no benefit from Salat. Therefore, you must perform Salat in the best possible manner. When you are in the standing posture, your whole appearance must reflect the fact that you are standing before God in all humility. When you bow before Him in Salat, it must be a reflection of the bowing of your heart. When you fall prostrate, your manner must be that of a man who is inspired by fear of God. And pray a lot for your spiritual as well as material uplift. (Al-Hakam, 31 May 1903).