Light upon light

 (24:35) It’s manifestations are endless…Subhan’Allah =)

The following is an explanation of the verse by Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al Jilani (R.A):

“Your heart is a polished mirror. You must wipe it clean of the veil of dust which has gathered upon it, because it is destined to reflect the light of divine secrets. When the light from Allâh (Who) is the light of the heavens and the earth begins to shine upon the regions of your heart, the lamp of the heart will be lit. The lamp of the heart is in a glass, the glass as it were a brightly shining star…. Then within that heart, the lightning-shaft of divine revelations strikes. This lightning-shaft will emanate from the thunderclouds of meaning neither of the East nor of the West, lit from a blessed olive tree. It will throw light upon the tree of discovery (or revelation), so pure, so transparent that it sheds light though fire does not touch it. Then the lamp of wisdom is lit by itself. How can it remain unlit when the light of Allâh’s secrets shines over it?

It is not the stars that guide us but the divine light…. If only the lamp of divine secrets be kindled in your inner self the rest will come, either all at once or little by little…. The dark skies of unconsciousness will be lit by the divine presence and the peace and beauty of the full moon, which will rise from the horizon shedding light upon light, ever rising in the sky, passing through its appointed stages … until it shines in glory in the center of the sky, dispersing the darkness of heedlessness…. Your night of unconscious- ness will then see the brightness of the day…. Then you will see from the horizon of Divine Reason the sun of inner knowledge rising. It is your private sun, for you are the one whom Allâh guides…. Finally, the knot will be untied … and the veils will lift and the shells will shatter, revealing the fine beneath the coarse; the truth will uncover itself.

All this will begin when the mirror of your heart is cleansed. The light of Divine secrets will fall upon it if you are willing and ask for Him, from Him, with Him.”

May the endless Blessings and Mercy of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’ala) be on the Ummah of Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) always!

seek Him.

It was an early morning at my university. There were not many people around. It was raining hard. There was this girl standing aloof from the crowd. With her arms folded, she was staring at the sky. I could see that she was deep in thoughts. Confused? Nervous? Scared? Maybe. Her friends joined her soon but her mind was somewhere else. She was holding something and reading from it.

 

O Allah! I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge and by Your power I seek strength and I ask You from Your immense favor, for verily You are able while I am not and verily You know while I do not and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah! If You know this affair [this matter] to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life, and end, then decree and facilitate it for me, and bless me with it. But if in Your Knowledge, You know [this matter] to be ill for me towards my religion, my life, and end, then drive it away from me and drive me away from it, and decree for me what is good wherever it be and make me satisfied with such.

 

Putting one’s complete trust in Him gives the heart so much peace and this I was realizing at this moment. Standing in the rain, in this position of humility before Him, making dua with all my heart, I was feeling content. I pulled out my Qur’an and ALLAH TA’ALA brought this verse up:

 

 Whatever Allah grants to people of mercy-none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds-none can release it thereafter. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise (35:2)

 

What He wills, happens and what He does not will ,does not happen. And what He does is always, always the best. This reminded me of another ayat:

 

And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful (10:107)

 

This shows that nobody is in control of our affairs but He.

 

 
O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy (35:15)

 

We need Him in all that we do. Dua e istikhara is a very profound dua. It gives a person conviction and helps one take the big leap into a decision. A decision that is good for us here and Hereafter in sha ALLAH. And as Imam Al Ghazali puts it:

 

 You must convince your heart That whatever Allah has decreed Is most appropriate 

And most beneficial For you. 

 

As the university campus started filling up with students and the rain ceased, I saw her walking to class with a smile. A satisfaction in that smile. She had just handed everything over to Al-Wakeel (the Best Disposer of affairs) Who she knew would never disappoint.Ever.