Meditation for last days of the Ramadan

BISMILLAHIRAHMANIRAHIM

Peace to your beautiful hearts O beloveds, hearts made even more shining through the gentle power of this glorious month of Ramadan.

We have mentioned that the latter days of Ramadan are wonderful times for meditation, meditations of subtle imagination like shimmering veils of light in nearness to the Beloved.

The beginning of the following meditation – the Divine Hands and the Breath - came while I was laying down this morning. It elaborated further as I was writing to share it with you. InshaAllah may it be of help.

Meditation

You may sit or lay down. Laying down is better at the beginning as you can place your hands over your heart. But it is not necessary.

Imagine that Allah’s Hands of Gentle Power are holding your heart. Feel the love flowing from Allah’s Hands into your heart. Let your heart relax and soften in this love and allow the feeling of trust to pervade it, like a baby in the arms of its mother.

When your heart has softened into a state of peace then imagine your Lord and Cherisher breathing into your heart. Feel the sweet wave of life-giving life-nourishing Breath wafting over your heart and entering your heart, filling it with love and light. You may imagine the Divine Breath harmonizing with your own breathing – so that throughout your waking day and days after the meditation you will subtly feel that your own breathing – the intake of life energy - is the breathing into you of your Lord and Cherisher. We are the exact mirroring of what is divinely occurring.

In this state you might feel the Name ‘Allah’ beginning to sound in your heart. Or you might remain in silence. Bask in this state of intimacy filling your heart with love and trust and deep joy. You may remain like this until you feel that you can carry this state with you as you get up and go about your affairs.

Or you may further add to the meditation. Once you are in the state of deep peace and trust see the Breath of Allah containing all the Divine Letters and Divine Names and Divine Constitutions which form Creation. You can envision the separate letters coming in the Breath, beginning with Ha and ending with Wauw, which process has been described by the Shaykh al Akbar, Ibn Arabi, may his soul be sanctified. You may feel this Creative Breath filling your heart and giving rise to Creation within your heart. Your heart becomes the vessel for all Creation with the Throne of Mercy expanding over all living beings, embracing all beings in mercy and knowledge – the Angels, the subtle beings, human beings, all living beings in all the dimensions of life – mineral , plant, four-legged and winged ones. This Creation includes Paradise and the Fire. The entire drama of Creation is within your heart as it was in the heart of AdamEve alayhi Salam.

You may remain in this state of feeling the Creation of the Beloved in your heart for as long as you choose. You might find your self weeping and laughing. “Turn thy vision again, do you see any flaw?” (Surah Mulk, 67, Ayat 3). This is the question of Allah to His beloved Muhammad, saws, and also to us. Gaze deeply into Creation, beyond surface conceptions…can you see any error?

After dwelling in this station of contemplation you may imagine that your heart begins to grow vast, expanding beyond Creation, so that Creation becomes smaller and smaller, less and less visible to your Consciousness. Your Consciousness is being drawn to Allah alone, occupied with Allah alone. Now comes the powerful Gaze of the Beloved into your Consciousness and your gaze locks into this Gaze. “Sight never swerves nor does it go wrong.” (Surah Najm, 53, ayat 17), describing the gaze of the illumined Prophet, may he be embraced in mystic union, merging with the Divine Gaze on his night of Miraj into the Heart of the Beloved.

The vision of the vastness of the human heart – so vast that Creation is hardly perceived – is recorded from the gnostic visionary Bayazit Bistami, may his soul be sanctified.

After remaining in this station for as long as you like, you may gently return by reversing the order of ascent, returning to the state of your heart held in the Hands of Gentle Power breathed into with the Breath of the Living One. This imagination can remain with you throughout the day of your life. For it is like always being in the loving power of Bismillahir Rahman ar Rahim.

Alhamdulillah beloveds. May our Lord and Lover continue bestowing upon us the best of His bestowals.

Blessed last days of Ramadan!

Ya Ghaffar Ya Ghaffur Ya Rahim

Fariha