Imam Ghazali woke up one
early morning and as usual offered his prayers and then enquired what day
it was, his younger brother, Ahmad Ghazali replied,"Monday." He asked him
to bring his white shroud, kissed it, stretched himself full length and
saying "Lord, I obey willingly," breathed his last.
And underneath his
head rest they found the following verses; composed by him, probably, during
the night.
"Say to my friends, when they look upon me, dead
Weeping for me and mourning me in sorrow
Do not believe that this corpse you see is myself
In the name of God, I tell you, it is not I,
I am a spirit, and this is naught but flesh
It was my abode and my garment for a time.
I am a treasure, by a talisman kept hid,
Fashioned of dust, which served me as a shrine,
I am a pearl, which has left it's shell deserted,
I am a bird, and this body was my cage
Whence I have now floron forth and it is left as a token
Praise to God, who hath now set me free
And prepared for me my place in the highest of the heaven,
Until today I was dead, though alive in your midst.
Now I live in truth, with the grave - clothes discarded.
Today I hold converse with the saints above,
With no veil between, I see God face to face.
I look upon "Loh-i-Mahfuz" and there in I read
Whatever was and is and all that is to be.
Let my house fall in ruins, lay my cage in the ground,
Cast away the talisman, it is a token, no more
Lay aside my cloak, it was but my outer garment.
Place them all in the grave, let them be forgotten,
I have passed on my way and you are left behind
Your place of abode was no deweling place for me.
Think not that death is death, nay, it is life,
A life that surpasses all we could dream of here,
While in this world, here we are granted sleep,
Death is but sleep, sleep that shall be prolonged
Be not frightened when death draweth night,
It is but the departure for this blessed home
Think of the mercy and love of your Lord,
Give thanks for His Grace and come without fear.
What I am now, even so shall you be
For I know that you are even as I am
The souls of all men come forth from God
The bodies of all are compounded alike
Good and evil, alike it was ours
I give you now a message of good cheer
May God's peace and joy for evermore be yours."
Words of the final
Khutbah of Hazrat Khwaja Mu'inuddin Chishti (r.a.) delivered to his followers
just one month before his demise.
Love all and hate none.
Mere talk of peace will avail you naught.
Mere talk of Allah and religion will not take you far.
Bring out all of the latent powers of your being
And reveal the full magnificence
of your immortal self.
Be surcharged with peace and joy,
And scatter them wherever you are
and wherever you go.
Be a blazing fire of truth,
And be a soothing balm of peace. With your spiritual light,
dispel the darkness of ignorance;
and spead goodwill, peace, and harmony among the people.
Never seek any help, charity, or favors
from anybody exept Allah.
Never go to the courts of kings,
but never refuse to bless and help the needy and the poor,
the widow, and the orphan, if they come to your door.
This is your mission, to serve the people....
Carry it out dutifully and courageously,
so that I, as your Pir-o-Murshid,
may not be ashamed of any shortcomings on your part
before the Almighty Allah and our holy predecessors
in the Sufi order (silsilah)
on the Day of Judgment.
Rabia al Awliyya
is said to have emphasised her refusal of marriage with thefollowing beautiful
lines.
My peace, O my brothers, is my solitude,
And my Beloved is with me always,
For His love I can find no substitute,
And His love is the test for me among mortal beings,
Whenever His Beauty I may contemplate,
He is my "mihrab", towards Him is my "qibla"
If I die of love, before completing satisfaction,
Alas, for my anxiety in the world, alas for my distress,
O Healer (of souls) the heart feeds upon its desire,
The striving after union with Thee has healed my soul,
O my Joy and Life abidingly,
Thou wast the source of my life and from Thee also
came my ecstasy.
I have separated myself from all created beings,
My hope is for union with Thee, for that is the goal of
my desire.
What a bad servant
he is!
Al-Hasan a1-Basri (may Allah bestow His mercy upon him)] said:
"What a bad servant [of the Lord] is he! I am speaking of a servant
who fits the following description:
1. He asks for forgiveness (maghfirah), while he is actively engaged
in sinful disobedience (ma'siya).
2. He behaves in a humbly submissive manner, so that he may be credited
with loyalty (amana), but he is only pretending, to hide his disloyalty
(khiyanah).
3. He forbids what is wrong, but does not refrain from it himself.
4. He enjoins what is right, but does not act upon his own instructions.
5. If he gives, he does so very stingily, and if he withholds, he
offers no apology.
6. If he is in the best of health, he feels secure, but if he falls
sick, he becomes remorseful.
7. If he is impoverished, he feels sad, and if he gets rich, he
is subject to temptation.
8. He hopes for salvation, but does not act accordingly.
9. He is afraid of punishment, but takes no precautions against
it.
10. He wishes to receive more benefit, but he does not give thanks
[for what he has received].
11. He likes the idea of spiritual reward, but he does not practice
patience.
12. He expedites sleep and postpones fasting."
From "Ghunyat-ut-talibeen" by Shaikh Abdul-Qader al-Jilaani *raa*
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