Night of Forgiveness
Laylatul Barat
Come lovers come to the Night of Forgiveness, to Laylatul Barat, the sweetest night!
Come come whoever you are even if you have broken your vows a thousand times!
Come come come to the One Who is Love.
Come to the sweet water of life, and let it wash away our wounds and our pains. We are the ones invited by Divine Generosity to ask for forgiveness on this night of nights and to offer forgiveness.
This night is for us.
It is for the ones who have broken their vows and neglected and overslept and eaten and forgotten and became ungrateful and selfish and upset with the gift and were lazy and abusive and greedy and unaware.
This night is for us.
This is the night of return.
This night is for us to take the deepest breath and sigh of relief and remember that our Lord is all loving and forgiving, our Lord is waiting for us, longing for us. And we have only to turn,
Turn and ask,
Turn and be together with the One who loves us and whom we love.
This night is for us.
Come!
On this night according to Muzaffer Effendi destinies are inscribed, divine missions are promulgated, books of errors erased, new intentions accepted, spiritual stations assigned, and souls forgiven, forgiven, forgiven and healed and illumined and transformed.
This is a night to be present with our Lord and Lover, whether in community or in our own dwelling.
Tonight in the Dergah al Farah we are offering the 100 rakats that Muzaffer Effendi, rahmetullah aleyhi, in his great love and generosity brought us as a gift from our lineage for this night.
Each Circle is offering in their own way. Shaykha Amina and the dervishes of Mexico City are dividing the rekats into two portions, last night 50 and tonight 50. Other Circles, such as that of Baqi Tasleema in Las Vegas, are dividing the 100 rekats among the three nights of the full moon. The Bismillah Circle in Puerto Rico has in the past offered them as three nights.
May all ways be accepted!
Tonight is also the Night of Passover, celebrating the loving Divine protection over the people of Moses, aleyhi salam, during the reign of Pharaoh.
And tomorrow is the solar birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, may he be showered in divine peace and love. We are gathering in the Effendi’s house.
And Sunday is celebrated by the Western Church as the Resurrection of the Spirit of God, Hazreti Issa ibn Maryam, peace be upon them both.
Peace be upon all the Communities of Love!
And may the victory of Love shine forth in all the hearts on earth and in the heavens!
O My servants who have transgressed against the innate nobility of your own souls, never doubt the astonishing Mercy of Allah Most High, Who can forgive and erase every negation and distortion. He is ceaselessly forgiving, infinitely merciful. 39:53