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Hafiz Ehsan - Bekhud Kiye Dete Hain

~ Yā ‘Ālima’s-Sirri Minnā - the well known and often recited poem of Imam ‘Abdullah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad, recited by Ustadh Yusuf & Hafiz Ehsan Tahir ~

Imam al-Haddad’s poems continue to bring light and life to gatherings all over the world. One of his masterpieces is this “Pre-dawn Breeze,” which begins:

‎يَا رَبِّ يَا عَالِمَ الْحَالْ إلَيْكَ وَجَّهْتُ الآمالْ
‎فَامْنُنْ عَلَيْنَا بِالإقْبَالْ وَكُنْ لَنَا وَأصْلِحِ الْبَالْ

“O Lord, O Knower of every state
To You I turn my hopes
So bless us by turning to us,
Support us and rectify us”

He said of it: “This is one of the greatest works which we have composed, for every verse is an expression of Allah’s oneness (tawḥīd). Had it been our way to take the means we would have bequeathed that the poem be buried with us, but our way is to meet Allah in a state of absolute neediness (faqr).”

Imam Al-Haddad authored a number of books that continue to benefit people generation after generation. His works are clear and concise and thus suitable for our times. Several have been translated into English and other languages.

Despite being blind by the age of 4, Allah blessed him with the light of inner sight. His father directed him to the pursuit of knowledge and he memorised the Qur’an and the foundational texts of the Islamic sciences at an early age.

His love of knowledge was accompanied with a love of worship. In his childhood, when his morning lessons had finished, he would perform up to 200 rakats of prayer. His day was structured around acts of worship, which began long before dawn and ended late at night, interspersed with lessons and time with his family. He compiled a number of litanies, the most famous being the Ratib and al-Wird al-Latif, which provide spiritual sustenance for the seeker.

His reliance on Allah was such that he said: “If the sky were to call out, ‘I will not send forth a drop of rain,’ and the earth were to call out, ‘I will not send forth a single shoot,’ and I was responsible for feeding all the people of Tarim I would not be in the least concerned after my Lord has said: There is no creature on the earth but that Allah has guaranteed to provide for it.”

Ustadh Yusuf & Hafiz Ehsan Tahir - Ya Alima Sirri Minna

The opening prayer of the Shimmering Light Mawlid recited by Kashif Zahid.

Kashif Zahid - Shimmering Light 'The Opening Prayer'

Ustadh Yusuf - Jinal Madina

Ustadh Amjid Mahmood - Chapter 4 Shimmering Light

Khairal Bariyyah - Mawlid At IMSA Conference December 2024

"Weep like a woman, for you could not defend your Kingdom like a man."

- Lady Aisha al-Hurra to her son, Muhammad XII (Boabdil), Last Muslim Emir of Al-Andalus

Ya Arda Andalus (Lament for Al-Andalus)

Drink the wine of the People of Purity
And you shall see wonders!
With the people of true gnosis,
The heart is beautified and pleasured.
- Shaykh Ibn al-Farid (Rh.)

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