The Shortest of Paths – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
Peace, one and all…
This one was blessed to encounter the profound and beautiful poet of Sidi Muhammad ibn al-Habib during the last year. His Diwan is so beautiful, and no matter where one opens it, it always has sage advice. Allah! I opened the book recently, holding a question on the proper focus during these trying times we live in. Its advice was exactly what this heart needed. As such, I wanted to share the excerpt in question here. It is drawn from his poem Buraq of the Way.
May the hearts of the lovers be opened.
The shortest of paths in the presence of Allah
is that you invoke with abundance the Name Allah.
For it is the Greatest and the Supreme Name,
according to the soundest view, beyond dispute.
Empty your heart of everything else
when you turn towards invocation of the Creator.
Behold the mysteries of the Infinitely Wise and reflect,
stay clear of vain chatter; do not persist in sin.
Rather, follow sin by seeking forgiveness,
And by humility and by lowliness.
And behold the grace that Allah gives you
in every act of obedience that comes to you.
Praise Him both in comfort and in hardship
for in truth He is the Doer in [all] things.
And let the yearning of love be what moves your aspiration
do not settle for less than the Eternal One.
Nor cease [your journey] at glimmers of light,
nor at anything else you might reach [along the way].
And ask Him to shorten for you the Path
that you might taste that realisation.
For Allah chooses from His servants
Whom He wishes to bring into His Solitary Presence.
And be careful not to make the Way too long,
that will only bring you hindrance.
Conduct your soul along the path of kindness,
that its journey might be one of love and longing.
Two bowings of prayer offered by a lover
are better than a thousand that are lacking in love.
Make beautiful conduct your [constant] companion
in whatever you take of the Law and Inner Truth.
Approaching all matters with beautiful conduct
is like mixing the Elixir into [molten] iron.
Do you not see how that transmutes he iron
in an instant into new and precious gold?
Even thus does beautiful conduct act upon hearts
and transports them into the Realm of the Unseen.
For how many a zealot is left only to his practice
and how many a humble servant through his conduct is brought near?
Beautiful conduct when looking at creation
means to witness its Creator without any other
Sidi Muhammad ibn al-Habib, Buraq of the Way
There is a lot in this poem to reflect on. As with Ibn Ata’illah’s Intimate Discourses, the focus is always on God, and on constantly refocusing our inner vision on that central reality. Things come and things go, remain focused on God. God’s gifts (of both bestowal and withholding) are meant to lead us to the Giver Himself. This poem also strongly reminds this one of the following passage from the Mevlevi Evrad-i Serif, a passage ascribed to Hazret-i Mevlana himself:
In every (situation of) fear, I consider: There is no divinity except God! (La ilaha illa Allah)
And in every (situation of) grief and sorrow: What God has willed (must be)! (Ma sha Allah)
And in every (situation of) favor and blessing: The praise is to God! (Al hamdu lillah)
And in every (situation of) comfort and well-being: The thanks is to God! (al-shukru lillah)
And in every (situation of) amazement and wonder: The glory is to God! (subhan Allah)
And in every sin: I seek the forgiveness of God! (astaghfirullah)
And in every (situation of) lack and insufficiency: God suffices me! (hasbi Allah)
And in every misfortune: “Truly, we belong to God and we must return to Him!” [Qur’an 2:156]. (inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon)
And in every (Divinely) Decreed and Destined (situation): I trust in God! (tawaakaltu ala Allah)
And in every (act of) obedience and disobedience: There is no power and no strength except in God, the Most High, the Most Mighty
(La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah al-Ali al-Azim)
Taken from the excellent Dar al-Masnavi website
The other key theme in this passage is the centrality of beautiful conduct, of adab (some previous posts on adab: the Shape of Adab; Finding the Beloved in the Letter Alif; ‘And If You Cannot Become One At The Threshold’: Reflecting on Adab, Love and the Way). . That is, in order to draw closer to the Real, we need to take on the beautiful qualities of the divine, as fully as we are able. The shortest path to God is to focus all our attention, devotion and invocation on Allah alone, and to gradually begin to remove every idol from the inward Ka’ba of our hearts.
And our last prayer is in praise of God, Lord of all the Worlds
