Vessels of Praise and Prayer
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Dearest Companions of the Way of the Heart
Let us ask our Beloved Who is the inspirer, the hearer and the answerer of prayer, to be made into vessels of continuous praise and prayer. And may our commitment be to keep our vessels clear of negative thinking and negative reactions. For the Zikrullah is already in our hearts, and all that is needed is the cleaning and clearing of the corridors around the heart, as Shaykh Nur would call those places in our consciousness that echo doubt, fear and ingratitude. The Zikrullah has been in our hearts from the moment our Lord and Lover cried “Be!” ‘Be’ My mirror! ‘Be’ My praise! ‘Be’ My love to Myself! ‘Be’ My beautiful Names, My Esma ul Husna!
This is the pre-eternal command from Love to each human soul.
“Love Me, return to Me, ask from Me, rely on Me, trust in Me, be consumed by me, be bewildered and lost in Me. I belong to you and you belong to Me.”
Each being praises in the way that is natural to its essence, informed by the sacred Tradition to which it belongs. And everyone in creation is part of a sacred Tradition, whether admitted or not. In our path, through the magnificent and beloved heart of Muhammad, may he be always showered in divine peace, we have been given sublime forms of Zikrullah and Remembrance. La ilahe ilallah Muhammad Rasulallah is the greatest according to many masters of the heart. Shaykh Nur confided that during a certain period after meeting with Muzaffer Effendi he would call on Allah ceaselessly, using the Divine Name ‘Allah.’
After immersing himself completely in the reality of that Name he came to La ilahe ilallah Muhammad Rasulallah. He felt that this was the most complete Divine Name. And he gave us his poem, Affirmation of Unity, first chapter of the Atom, as an amazing testament of his vision. And that Name became his continuous Tasbih. The great Shaykh of Shaykhs Ibn al Arabi underwent a similar realization. He declared that it was the only Name which both affirmed a Divine manifestation and then transcended it. So it truly is a sword of light as Nur loved to say, revealing continuously the new Face.
Whichever Name or Koranic phrase you hear resonating within your being, allow it to repeat itself in your heart.
You may flow through different Names and prayers. It could be ‘La ilahe ilallah Muhammad Rasulallah.’ Or ‘Allah.’ Or the set from the Pir’s Usul, ‘Ya Hafisu, Ya Nasiru, Ya Mu’inu Ya Allah’ or ‘Allahume Ya Dafi, Ya Mani, Ya Allah’. Or ‘Rabbi zidni ilmen’, O Lord increase me in knowledge. Or ‘Hasbiallahu la ilahe illahu’ Allah is always enough for me and there is no reality apart from Him. Or others you might choose. Please consult with your Circle guide if it is not one of these. The safest single Name to repeat ceaselessly is La ilahe ilallah Muhammad rasulallah. Other Names may be spontaneously woven into your day.
Trials and calamities, the imagined ones too, help to turn our focus to Allah. And today they seem to abound, both socially and environmentally. We are consumed by one, and then oops there is another one right behind us that we were not aware of that could be much worse. So either we will find ourselves spinning from calamity to calamity, or we will turn our gaze onto the One Who creates all of this for our guidance, refinement and instruction. As dervishes, it is to that One that we need to turn, while our hands and capacities are working to serve people and the earth, and our minds are imagining healing solutions for the dilemmas of our time. All that matters in our life is our relationship to our Beloved, and the way we treat the Family of our Beloved, all beings, for ultimately they are also our Beloved and our Lord. Let us work on this relationship and all relationships will heal. And the earth will heal and the children of the earth will heal. And humanity will shine, as it already does in the Heart of Allah.
May we become the vessel we were created to be.
Heart in heart in the One Heart Fariha Fatima