Come Today to Mount Arafat O Pilgrims of Love

In the Name of Allah, infinitely compassionate, boundlessly merciful

Beloveds,

May we all be filled with the sweetest peace of union on this glorious day, the ninth day of Hajj, the day of Arafat. The truthful Prophet, may Allah's mercy shower upon him in infinite abundance, said that Arafat is the Hajj. If we are at Arafat we have realized the Hajj… without it our Hajj is not valid. So let us, insha'allah, all stand together at Arafat in the inner realm. Let us be the pilgrims who seek the pleasure of their Cherisher and Sustainer, those who long for union through their Beloved. Let us be the people of union. It is at Arafat that our parents Adam and Eve found each other again after having fallen into the earthly realm from the paradise garden. So it is the meeting place of lover and beloved, where the longing soul quenches its thirst. It is also the place of knowing, for its name means "to know". We come to this mystic place to know our self and to know our Lord. We know our self by experiencing the fire of divine longing which separates us from the matters of the world, which translates us back into pure spirit, which gathers us into one essence of desire for Allah. We know our self when this desire dissolves into Allah in mystic union, losing all sense of self. We know our self when we lose our self and find our self in Allah. May we experience the mystery and bliss of Arafat.

As we gather this afternoon at the time of asr in our circles, or as we stand by our self in contemplation, we can feel the divine energy of the three million pilgrims who left their families and identities behind to be present at the Mount of Arafat. As our day comes after theirs, we can receive the baraka of their hearts, like a blessed cloud of mercy which gathers and pours onto the dry soil of our own divinely created need, our essential state of poverty before Allah. To know our poverty, to be a true fakir of the spirit, is to know our self. To experience the constant and ceaseless filling of this need, as revelation, as manifestation, as divine unveiling in our heart from Allah, is the immeasurable blessing that we are promised.

It is from the Mount of Arafat, also called the Mount of Mercy, that our Prophet gave his last sermon on the afternoon of the ninth day of Hajj, the day of Arafat. It is here that he called upon Allah as witness to his having delivered the message for humanity with which his Lord had entrusted him. It is here during that sermon that the last revelation occurred: "On this day those who hide themselves from the light of faith have given up all hope in what has been revealed to you as your Way. Fear them not, and remain in loving awe of Me. This day I have perfected your Way for you and completed my immense favor upon you, and have chosen for you the beautiful and essential way of surrender to Me as your religion, the way called Islam." The completion and confirmation of the path of the heart was given to our Messenger on this day - the merging of soul into Source through loving surrender and the shining forth of soul as pure attributes of Allah. And the crowning of the Prophet Muhammad as perfect and trustworthy messenger was given on Mount Arafat on this day. May Allah embrace him and his noble family and all humanity as his community with the perfect peace of eternal mystic union. Ya Hazreti Fatimah! Ya Hazreti Ali! Ya Hazreti Hasan! Ya Hazreti Huseyn!

It was also on the day of Arafat that one of the greatest miracles of our Pir, Nureddin Jerrahi, may his soul be immersed in mercy, was demonstrated. For on this day he mystically transported his dervishes to Arafat, by gathering them together outside the walls of Istanbul during the time of the asr (afternoon) prayer. He did this three times, the last three years of his blessed life. This points to the extreme mercy of Arafat, for he would not have broken the apparent structure of creation except for something of the highest importance. By doing this he also opened the possibility for us to experience Arafat beyond the limits of space and time. So please honor the immense gift he has given us by being present this afternoon in prayer and contemplation. The traditional prayer is "Labayk Allahume labayk. Labayk la sharike laka labayk. Inal Hamda wa Niamta, laka wal Mulk. La sharika lak." "I have come, I am here o my Allah. I have come to You, O You without other, I am here before You. To You belongs all praise and all good, and the entire realm of creation belongs to You alone. For You have no partner." Pray this prayer together if you can with the leaders of your circle, the friends of your souls, for they have been to Mount Arafat and they have prayed there.

The day of Arafat was also the passing day of Pir Nureddin, rahmetullah aleyhi. This year it is also the birthday, on the western calendar, of Muzaffer Effendi, rahmetullah aleyhi. So this is truly a great day!

Be blessed. Be the pilgrims of Arafat. Be the seekers of self revelation. Be the people of mercy.

Ya Hazreti Hagar! Ya Hazreti Ismail! Ya Hazreti Ibrahim! Ya Hazreti Muhammad, sallallahu aleyhi wa sellimhu taslima! Ya Ahli Bayt! Ya Muhajjirs! Ya Ansari! Ya Insan! Ya Allah!

Fariha

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