From the Eighth Discourse—page 152-156
in Irshad: Wisdom of a Sufi Master, by Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak Al-Jerrahi, trans. Muhtar Holland. An Ashki Book of Amity House, Warwick: 1988.
HOW TO BE WORTHY OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY
OF THE BLESSED MESSENGER
Our blessed Master said: “If a person hears my name mentioned, but does not bless me, that person is fit for Hell. May Allāh graciously remove that person from the Fire.”
Those who wish to be delivered from torment in the Hereafter, and wish to achieve bliss, should invoke the noble benedictions lovingly whenever they hear our Master’s name mentioned. They must love our Master, the final Prophet, more than anything, even life itself. They must repent for their sins and avoid falling back into the sewer of disobedience. They must duly make up any prayers they have left undone. If they are rich, they must give the alms-due for Allāh’s sake and in His cause. They must keep the fast each year in the month of Ramadān. They must show gratitude to their Lord by performing the Pilgrimage once in their lifetime, in the proper season. They must eschew lying and false oaths, as well as adultery and fornication. They must avoid hypocrisy and ostentation. They must guard against arrogance, pride, dishonesty and backbiting. They must not soil their tongues with bad words, but should rather adorn them by affirming the Divine Unity and by pronouncing benedictions. Allāh grant that we all practice such works of righteousness. Amen.
How the Venerable Jazūlī Came to Write His Famous Book
Sulaymān al-Jazūlī was a descendant of the venerable Hasan, the grandson of our Master and the honored son of Imām ‘Ali and the venerable Fātima. He lived first in the city of Jazūl, then in another city of Muslim Spain. He eventually emigrated to North Africa, settling in the region of Fez, where he engaged in religious teaching, spiritual guidance and worship.
As he was going about the city one day, the venerable Jazūlī stopped at a well to perform his ablution before prayers. Unable to find a rope and bucket with which to draw water, he stood looking around until he saw a little girl on a wall. He called out: “My child, have you a bucket in the house? Let me use it for my ablutions.” The little girl replied: “People are always praising you and talking about your knowledge, goodness and miraculous powers, yet you cannot draw water from a well without rope and bucket!” When he asked her if such a feat could be accomplished, she came straight over to the well and muttered something. By divine grace, the water brimmed over the edge of the well.
After using the water for his ablutions, the venerable Jazūlī said: “My girl, for the love of Allāh and His Messenger, tell me how you were able to achieve this miracle!” The child explained: “By often reciting blessings and peace upon the holy Messenger; by constantly pronouncing the noble benedictions.”
Having witnessed this little girl’s miracle, the venerable Jazūlī vowed to recite many noble benedictions himself. He spent a sleepless night, however, wondering which benedictions to invoke. He was still pondering this at midnight, when he was amazed to see his wife get out of bed, put on her finest clothes and leave the house. Stricken with jealousy, and curious to know where the lady could be going at that hour, he slipped out into the street after his wife. A remarkable sight now met his eyes. A pride of lions surrounded his wife, and they went off together toward the beach. Amazed and horrified, the venerable Jazūlī followed at a safe distance. His wife went down to the water’s edge. Putting out to sea on her prayer-rug, she headed for a lonely island lying just offshore. The lions sat waiting for her at the water’s edge. Having reached the desolate isle, the lady took her ablution and performed the prayer of night vigil, devoutly worshipping the entreating the Lord of All Worlds. She made the return journey walking on the surface of the water.
When she reached dry land, the lions again fell in before and behind her and escorted her home. The venerable Sheikh had already gone back to bed, where he was lying awake, waiting. His wife came in, put on her nightdress and went to bed. Curious to know whether the marvel he had witnessed was a unique occurrence the Sheikh spent three more nights awake. Each night he followed his wife and saw the same phenomenon repeated. Then, on the third morning he showed his hand and asked that blessed lady to explain her secret.
“So now you know about it,” said she. “This has been my custom for many years, ever since Allāh crowned me with this miraculous gift.” The venerable Jazūlī went on to ask how she had achieved such grace, and the lady explained: “Because of my affection for the esteemed and blessed Prophet, and my constant repetition of the noble benedictions.” Her husband then asked: “Which noble benedictions do you invoke?” At first the lady would say nothing to this, but when the venerable Jazūlī insisted, she told him: “Tonight I shall submit the question to Allāh. Then if I receive permission, I shall give you the answer.”
Next morning his wife said: “I am not permitted to tell you explicitly, but collect all the noble benedictions you can find; if it is among them, I shall tell you so.” The venerable Jazūlī then set to work with a vengeance to collect from authoritative books, and from the Sheikhs of his day, all the noble benedictions taught by the blessed tongue of the holy Messenger of Allāh, as well as those used by the noble Companions, and by the honorable scholars and respected Sheikhs in their litanies. He compiled the results of all this research into a book which his wife heard him read. “It occurs there in several places,” she assured him.
Beyond doubt, therefore, those who constantly read that blessed book will obtain Allāh’s mercy and be included among those who are beloved of the venerable Messenger. The venerable Jazūlī gave his book the title Proofs of Goodness and Rays of Light (Dalā’il al-Khayrāt wa-Shawāriq al-Anwār). May Allāh accept his efforts, forgive his faults, and immerse him in His mercy. Amen.
The venerable Jazūlī migrated to Asfā, on the coast, where he devoted himself to the wise, practical and loving instruction of his students. He stayed in that city for fifteen years before moving to Quwāl. There he taught, and published his book. People from far and wide gathered around him to improve and perfect themselves. As many as twelve thousand one hundred and sixty-five of the pupils capable of receiving guidance from him, later became popular instructors themselves. Killed by poison, he passed to the abode of the Hereafter during the second prostration of the second cycle of the morning prayer, on the sixteenth of Rabī’ al-Awwal in the year 870 of the Hijra. May the Almighty Lord have mercy upon him. May He fill his tomb with light, and may He grant us all his intercession in the Hereafter. Amen.
The venerable Jazūlī was buried at the noon prayer, inside the noble mosque which he himself had erected in that city. When the region fell into infidel hands, seventy-five years later, his pupils opened his tomb, saying: “We must not leave our Master’s body here, to fall into the hands of the unbelievers. Let us carry his body to a Muslim country!” But when they looked inside the tomb, they saw that the venerable Sheikh’s noble body had in no way deteriorated; he was lying there as if he had just been interred. After some of those who loved him had pressed their fingers on his blessed forehead, the blood returned to fill the impressions they had made, just as on a living person… They took his blessed body to Marrakech, where they reburied it. May Allāh’s mercy be upon him. Those who read his book will surely obtain bounties in this world and the Hereafter, including the vision in dreams of the beauty of Allāh’s holy Messenger.
The Man Who Ate Lots of Salted Fish
A certain person wished to see the blessed Messenger in a dream, but he seemed to be incapable of achieving this vision. He therefore approached a noble saint, imploring his advice. That noble being was an intimate friend of Allāh. He said: “My son, on Friday evening you must eat a lot of salted fish, then perform your prayer and go to bed without drinking any water. Then you will see.”
The man followed this advice. He spent the whole night dreaming that he was drinking from streams, fountains and springs. When morning came, he ran crying to the saint: “O Master, I did not see the Messenger. I was so thirsty that all I dreamed about was drinking from fountains and springs. I am still on fire with thirst.” The saint then told him: “So, eating salted fish gave you such a thirst that you dreamed all night long of nothing but water. Now you must feel such a thirst for Allāh’s Messenger and you will then behold his blessed beauty!”
Those who lovingly repeat the noble benedictions will most certainly see the Messenger of Allāh, and anyone favored with that vision is assured of his intercession.
* * *
THE GREAT PRAYER OF REPENTANCE
I seek Allāh’s forgiveness!
I seek Allāh’s forgiveness!
I seek Allāh’s forgiveness!
I seek fogiveness of Allāh, the Magnificent and Generous,
(There is none worthy of worship but He!)
the Living, the Self-Subsisting, and to Him we repent!
We beg His acceptance, forgiveness and guidance.
Surely He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate.
Pardon us and forgive us and have mercy upon us.
Surely You are the Oft-Relenting, the Compassionate.
My God, O my Lord!
My God, O my Lord!
My God, O my Lord!
O my Lord, if from my hand, from my tongue, from my eye, from my ear or from any organ of my body, there has issued against You any polytheism, unbelief, disobedience and sin great or small, all these I renounce. I repent. I am sorry.
Now I have come to You for mercy. I seek refuge with Your kindness. I confess my sins, I repent, I beg pardon, I shed tears. Relent O Lord. Relent and let my repentance mean that I never again rebel against You. I renew my faith. I turn to You for forgiveness. Who will pardon me if You will not? If You dismiss me from the gate of Your Grace, at what door shall I find asylum? Disobedient, I throw myself upon Your Generosity. A sinner, I beg the favor of Your Pardon. You are my bountiful generous King. Accept my repentance. Forgive my offense. For the sake of the honor of Your Beloved, the majesty of the Qur’ān, the might of Islam, the blood of Husayn, the tears of Fātima, the loyalty of Khadīja, the purity of ‘Ā’isha, the suffering borne by ‘Alī, the truthfulness of Abū Bakr the Veracious, the justice of ‘Umar, the modesty of ‘Uthmān, for the sake of the Ten who were promised Paradise, the simplicity of the homeless Companions, the majesty of the Warriors of Badr, the dignity of the Martyrs of Uhud, the lovers never sleeping, the friends whose hearts are aching, the Martyrs who enshroud themselves in their own blood in the cause of the Divine Word, the scholars whose teachings are applied, and for the sake of the patient poor, look with pardon upon me Your servant. To You I submit, pardon or burn me as You will but make me not distant for You. Let me belong to Your Beloved, enhance me with Your Love, gladden me with Your Pardon, endow me with Your Paradise, honor me with Your Beauty, O my Lord.
I believe in the first of the Messengers, Adam, on him be peace; in the last of them, our Prophet, Your dearly beloved Muhammad, the mercy and grace to all worlds; and in all the Prophets and Messengers who came between these two. I confess this with my tongue and confirm it with my heart.
I believe in Allāh and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day and in Destiny—that good or bad, it is from Allāh, Exalted is He—and in the Resurrection after death.[1]
Grant that our last words may be the Good Sentence: “I testify that there is no god but Allāh and I testify that Muhammad is His Servant and His Messenger.” [2] Amen.
For the sake of the Chief of the Messengers, for the sake of the Family of the Cloak, [3] and for the honor and dignity of “There is no god but Allāh.”
Glory to Your Lord, the Lord of Honor, beyond description, and peace upon the Messengers and grateful praise to Allāh, Lord of All the Worlds.
May my words find their mark. May Allāh grant His approval and may my readers find salvation.
NOTES
[1] āmantu bi-llāhi wa-malā’ikatihi wa-kutubihi wa-rusulihi wa-lyawmi-l’ākhiri wa-bilqadari khayrihi wa-sharrihi mina-llāhi ta’ālā wa-lha’thi ba’da-lmawt
[2] ashhadu an lā ilāha illā-llāh wa-ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa-rasūluhu
[3] The Prophet, on him be peace, his daughter the venerable Fātima, his son-in-law the venerable ‘Alī, and his grandsons the venerable Hasan and Husayn.