Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
Eid Al-Adha Mubarak!
May Allah bless you all this Eid Al-Adha, dear Brothers and Sisters, with generosity of hand, sincerity of speech, kindness in action, and love and joy in remembrance of Him, who is the Source of all Generosity, Sincerity, Kindness, Joy, and Love. Ameen!
“O Lord! Let not our hearts deviate now after You have guided us, but grant us mercy from Your own Presence; for You are the Grantor of bounties without measure.” (Qur’an: 3:9)
This is the time of Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, which celebrates the faith of Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice even his son Isaac as God had commanded. Now what are we willing to sacrifice in order that our prayers may be accepted?
That is the question I ask myself every year. Jesus (pbuh) kissed the leper, the whore, and the thief, out of love and forgiveness and healing. Because of the great expansiveness of his heart, miracles were possible. What have we done, what can we still do, to be worthy of the love and forgiveness and healing we ask of God? The answer that comes to my heart is always the same:
Do what love demands.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. -1 Corinthians 13:4-8
According to a hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) once said, “A true believer is one with whom others feel secure. One who returns love for hatred.”
Alhamdulillah! Indeed, Love is the greatest miracle of God. There have been Spiritual Masters of the past who would not let an aspirant be initiated until they had gone to everyone whom they had wronged in their life, and begged forgiveness, making amends in any way that was required. And until they had gone to everyone that had wronged them in their lives, and granted them forgiveness without asking, and with a whole heart. Only then could such a one be initiated on the mystic path.
And so we come to the great task of our lives, brought into focus on this day of Eid al-Adha: To sacrifice our fear and hatred, our envy and greed and all the other works of the fearful and self-absorbed nafs, in the certain knowledge that anyone who forgives a debt will be repaid tenfold by God, and anyone who forgives a wrong will be forgiven by God a hundredfold, and anyone who returns love for hatred will make of this life a paradise. That is what love demands.
Your task is not to seek for love,
but merely to seek and find
all the barriers within yourself
that you have built against it.
– Rumi
Ya Haqq!
In Memory of Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh
October 10, 2018Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
October 10th is the ten year anniversary of the death of Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, for over 50 years the Master of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order, and for 17 years, my Master (may God bless his soul and raise him to the highest rank of His beloveds). To commemorate the occasion, his own poem is a fitting tribute to his life and station:
My heart holds Your home,
my head desiring You;
Night and day have all passed,
while I am pledged to You.
I have suffered at the hand
of the people of the time;
In the world I’ve only seen
fidelity from You.
I’ve been drunk with Your wine
Since pre-eternity;
I surrendered to Your will
till post-eternity.
I’ve no hope for heaven
or for the Resurrection;
I have never wanted
anyone but You.
Once I realized that in reality
the Path cannot be traveled
Except on Your feet,
I lost both my head and feet.
With every breath I take
I am conscious of You;
I gave up heart and soul
for contentment from You.
If, like Nurbakhsh, you have pledged
yourself wholeheartedly to God;
The creation then will be ready
to pledge itself to you.
– from the Divan of Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh
Ya Haqq!