okay, this is simply magnificent- every word is worth hanging on to! The Power of Dhikr | Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi | GPU 2010 may Allah (Glory be to Him) bless the shaykh and elevate his ranks. i was overjoyed upon listening to this lecture. it's filled with good news upon good news! the most important statement made, one that each one should reflect deeply on and keep reminding himself about: "The only source of happiness in your life is Allah!" Wassalaam.
from the video posted by brother KS in another thread: Shaykh Abul Huda (hafidhahullah): "You cannot truly love Allah (as-subbuh) unless you are content with all that comes from Him, whether ease or hardships". ------------------------------------------------------------------- When Imam ash-Shafi'i (radhiAllahuanhu) left mecca-al-mukarramah to attend the study circles of Imam Malik (radhiAllahuanhu) he owned nothing besides the clothes he was wearing. On the way he met a caravan that was travelling towards madinah-al-munawwarah so he joined them for he was alone and there was always the possibility of getting lost in the desert. Besides, the caravan too was happy to take him along having learnt that he was a student of sacred knowledge going to madinah to further his learning. when it was time for supper a kind gentleman invited him to dine with him whereupon he immediately started to partake of the meal. The man was bemused and he asked ash-shafi if he was from the Quraysh. When he affirmed this the man remarked: "Indeed this is a characteristic trait of the Quraysh, they are generous hosts and homely guests!"
some moving quotes fro zaytuna's 'perrenial'-faculty page: Imam Ahmad Zarruq (d. AH 899, Takrin) “Watch your eye, should it ever reveal to you the faults of others, say to it: ‘O my eye, other people have eyes too.’” Imam Malik b. Anas (d. AH 179, Medina) “The shield of the scholar is, ‘I do not know,’ so if he neglects it, his statement is open to attack.” Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. AH 241, Baghdad) “The best of my days is when I awaken and find my cupboards bare. For that is a day my reliance on Allah is complete.” Imam al-Shafi’i (d. AH 204, Cairo) “Never do I debate a man with a desire to hear him err in his speech, or to expose the flaws in his argument, and thus vanquish him. Whenever I face an opponent in debate I silently supplicate, ‘O Lord, help him so that truth may manifest itself in his heart and on his tongue. If it be that the truth is on my side, may he follow me; and if the truth be on his side, may I follow him.’” Imam al-Qurtubi (d. AH 671, Egypt) “The scholars are those who know the power of Allah. They are in no doubt of His punishment no matter what the sin is.” Imam al-Nawawi (d. AH 676, Nawa) “The specifications of the Way of the Sufis are five: to keep the Presence of Allah in your heart in public and in private; to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet by actions and speech; to keep away from people and from asking them; to be happy with what Allah gave you, even if it is less; and to always refer your matters to Allah.” Imam al-Muzni (d. AH 264, Egypt) “I have been looking into al-Shafi’i’s Risala for fifty years, and I do not recall a single time I looked at it without learning some new benefit.” Imam al-Juwayni (d. AH 478, Nishapur) “I do not eat or sleep out of habit, but only if sleep overcomes me whether by night or by day, and only if I need to eat, whatever the time.” Imam ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. AH 561, Baghdad) “When the thankfulness of the servant is genuine, it is not only a matter of utterance by the tongue, but also the heart's acknowledgment of the Lord's bestowal of gracious favor.” Imam Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah al-Iskandari (d. AH 709, Cairo) “Nothing you seek relying on your Lord will ever be difficult, and nothing you seek relying on yourself will ever be easy.” Imam ‘Abd Allah b. Alawi al-Haddad (d. AH 1132, Hadramawt) “Be humble for humility is the attribute of believers. Beware of pride for God does not like the proud. Those who humble themselves are raised up by God, and those who are proud are abased by Him.” Imam Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (d. AH 748, Damascus) “(Knowledge is) not the profusion of narration, but a light which God casts into the heart. Its condition is followership and the flight away from egotism and innovation.” Imam al-Bukhari (d. AH 256, Khartang) “I used to earn five hundred silver coins a month and I spent them all seeking sacred knowledge. (This is because) what is with Allah endures.” Imam Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (d. AH 852, Cairo) “By the gate of your generosity stands a sinner, who is mad with love./ O best of mankind in radiance of face and countenance!/ Through you he seeks a means (tawassala), hoping for Allah’s forgiveness of slips;/ from fear of Him, his eyelid is wet with pouring tears./ Although his genealogy attributes him to a stone (hajar),/ how often tears have flowed, sweet, pure and fresh!/ Praise of you does not do you justice, but perhaps,/ In eternity, its verses will be transformed into mansions./ My praise of you shall continue for as long as I live,/ For I see nothing that could ever deflect me from your praise.” Qadi Abu Bakr b. al-‘Arabi (d. AH 543, Fez) “I utilized a small amount of a sort of learning, which is in fact closer to ignorance than knowledge, and accompanied it with a minimum amount of adab and yet it was enough to rescue us from death.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ and this one i heard from a friend: Imam Shafi said: "You can never be an 'alim until you taste of 'faqr' (destitution)." He was asked, "Not even the barely sufficient (sustenance)?" He replied,"not even the barely sufficient". ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Allahumma ahyina bi hayatil ulamaa, wa amitna bi mautish shuhada, wan shurna gadan fi zumratil awliya" Please say Ameen in your hearts. JazaKAllah. Wassalaam.
Bismillah... Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullah... Sidi Abu Hasan, are you sure that you are correct in translating Muridin as beginner Sufis? In the Shadhili Tarqiah of Shaykh Nuh Keller, where they read the Lataif al-Minan, they refer to beginner sufi's as Mutanasibun and those more advanced as Muridun...
is this the same shaykh abu'l abbas who said if the dear prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam was veiled from me even for a moment; i would no longer consider myself a muslim?
from laţāyif al-minan of imām ibn áţāyillāh as-sakandari [chapter 3]: the gnostic [áārif] yāqūt narrated to me that:a man once invited me and placed food in front of me and i saw darkness upon it; i said to myself that this is forbidden food and hence did not partake anything from it. thereafter i entered the assembly of shaykh abu'l ábbās [al-mursī] and he said to me [immediately after i sat down]: "among the ignorant ideas of a beginner-sufi [min jahl báađ al-murīdīn] is, when he sees darkness upon food presented to him, he says 'this is ĥarām'. o poor man! what benefit will your piety and scruplousness give you along with harboring foul suspicion of a fellow muslim? why couldn't you have said [to yourself*]: this is food that Allah ta'ala did not Will for us to eat. *as the narrator indicates, he did not say it aloud. he just found a way not to eat it, but within himself, he suspected it to be forbidden. Allah ta'ala knows best.
