The knower of God [1] is the one who, when he speaks, you see the light of the divine…

The knower of God [1] is the one who, when he speaks, you see the light of the divine presence [2] in his speech, and when he is silent, you see the light of the divine presence in his silence. His state is a state of witnessing [3], and his speech is a speech of wisdom [4].

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And may Allah bless our master and lord Muhammad, his family, and his companions, and grant them abundant peace. Chapter on visiting the grave of the master of the pious ¹. Praise be to Allah, who alone truly deserves praise. And praise be to Allah: whoever relies on Him in all his affairs, He suffices him; whoever attaches himself to Him, He draws him to His lofty presence and protects him; whoever seeks His favor, He bestows upon him the tenderness of His mercies and supplies him with the gifts of His effusions ² and the abundance of His blessings. And blessings and peace be upon our master and lord Muhammad, His chosen one from among His creation, His approved one, His trustee over the secrets of His unseen ³, and His elect. To proceed: When I had completed, by the praise of Allah, what I intended to say concerning the pilgrimage to the Sacred House of Allah and what I aimed to mention of the magnified rites and the obligatory rituals ⁴ incumbent upon all people, in the journey preceding this one, in full, I followed it here with discourse on visiting him—upon him be the most excellent prayers and the purest peace—and longing to see his illuminated sites and his station ⁵ distinguished with veneration and glorification. So I say—and from Allah I hope to attain the goal and achieve the desire—[I mention] stations, landmarks, abodes, mounts, delegations, visitors, deserts, wildernesses, plains, sand dunes that confound minds and at the sight of which eyes grow weary, caravans, travelers, stars by which the traveler is guided and by which one is directed to the traces of that religion and the delineation of monuments ⁶, noble hadiths, stories, reports, sweet chants, odes, poems, and camel-drivers whose melodies delight the camels and the voices of the listener's longing, stirring his states ⁷ toward visiting the master of the pious and the adornment of the chosen messengers, And the most noble of those over whom night has darkened and upon whom day has shone—my master and lord, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and honor, venerate, glorify, and magnify him. Greet the abodes of shih ⁸ and fragrance, and lament the heart of a yearning lover, wounded for the homes. And halt at the hills of Sal' ⁹ and Naqa ¹⁰, perhaps they may fulfill the desires of a passionate lover. And turn away from the low ground of al-Waghsa' ¹¹, for therein is the passion of a herd that hunts lions with its wide eyes. Glory be to Him who fashioned the musk of the mole from clay and adorned her pearly smile with a gap ¹². O queen of the age of beauty, here is my hand—cast hearts and fear no sin. In the folds of your unfolding, the breaths of the breeze have traveled, perfuming all regions with fragrance. What eye has not glanced toward your pasture? What heart has not stirred for your meeting? How many arguments has my blamer set forth concerning you, while the sword of your glance among us cuts through arguments. O, will the torment ever leave me, and will I see the domes of Yathrib ¹³ with their joyful sight? And I call to the eye when its landmarks appear: O eye, guide of the abodes of love, rejoice! So be glad with Taybah ¹⁴, inhale the scent of its soil, and do not turn away from the sanctuary of the Chosen One's chamber. For he is the intercessor, and whoever ascends from his garden to the pulpit of gratitude will rise to the highest ranks. A prophet who spoke truth—Allah perfected his law over all laws with signs and proofs. May the Lord of the Throne bless him, as long as his attributes are mentioned in a beautiful, radiant, joyful composition, and as long as lovers chant in ramal ¹⁵ toward the Hijaz and the people sing in tumult. Chapter on one whom delegations stir to visit the tomb of the Mustafa ¹⁶. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom delegations and mounts stir to visit the tomb of one for whom riding beasts vie and camels yearn. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom litters and camels stir to visit the tomb of the master of every prophet and messenger. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom armies and battalions stir to visit the tomb of one whose mention perfumes assemblies and gatherings. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom landmarks and abodes stir to visit the tomb of one whom nobles and notables seek. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom banners and ships stir to visit the tomb of the bride of shrines and processions. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom vanguards and squadrons stir to visit the tomb of one before whom visitors and mounts bow. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom traces and abodes stir to visit the tomb of the pole ¹⁷ of lordship, blessed in soil and shrine. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom melodies and strings stir to visit the tomb of the master of the pious and the imam of the chosen, the virtuous. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom caravans and travelers stir to visit the tomb of the possessor of warning and glad tidings. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom riding beasts and swift camels stir to visit the tomb of the master of nobles and the elite of the most generous and pure. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the motives of states and longings stir to visit the tomb of one whom his Lord praised with beautiful attributes and noble character. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom traces and signs stir to visit the tomb of the possessor of dazzling miracles and wonders.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the proofs and stars ¹⁸ have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of the lofty station and the known rank ¹⁹. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the glad tidings and signs ²⁰ have moved to visit the shrine of one through whom hearts find solace from family, kin, and tribe. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the rhymes and odes ²¹ have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of divine sciences ²² and benefits. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the stories and reports have moved to visit the shrine of one whose service is desired by patrons and free men. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the ruins and remains ²³ have moved to visit the shrine of one whom the nobles and great chiefs follow. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom longing and passion have moved to visit the shrine of the master of mankind and the completing brick ²⁴. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom ecstasy and sleeplessness have moved to the shrine of the master of angels, jinn, and humans. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom yearning and nostalgia have moved to visit the shrine of the seal of the prophets and the master of the messengers. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom love and infatuation have moved to see the shrine of the master of masters, pure in origin and branches ²⁵. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom praise and chanting have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of the blessed station and the happy presence. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom joy and delight have moved to visit the shrine of the offspring of the virtuous and the master of non-Arabs and Arabs. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom clamor and pilgrimage have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of the kohl-rimmed eye and the radiant, beauteous cheek. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the drum and the camel-driver's song ²⁶ have moved to visit the shrine of the master of masters and the intercessor of creatures on the Day of Gathering and Summoning. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom desire and yearning have moved to visit the shrine of the lover of Mecca and the dweller of Taba ²⁷. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom rapture and bewilderment have moved to visit the shrine of the master of existences and the best of the sons of Ma'd and Adnan ²⁸. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the warbling of birds and the cooing of doves have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of al-Hatim, Zamzam, the Corner, and the Station ²⁹. So send blessings upon him, O Allah, and upon his noble and generous family, and his Companions, the suns of guidance and full moons of perfection, a blessing by which You protect us in travel and residence, and make it for us a means to attain the goal and achieve the aim, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Description of the land that contains his noble body. O people of the quarter, I am enamored with you, * passionately in love for all time. My heart and innermost are with you, * while my body has stayed in the west. O people of the quarter, whenever my eye sees * a caravan for you traversing the hills, Patience leaves me, and likewise * my tears pour down my cheeks in streams. But fate has hindered me * from seeing you or seeing that station, And from seeing the garden ³⁰ truly, whether awake or asleep. O my God, disappoint not my hope, * and grant me the goal, O Reviver of bones. [Description of the land:] lote-trees, desert-thorn, palm-trees, wormwood, tamarisk, lemon-grass, and jujube, and trees of various colors, and springs gushing with diverse waters and flowing. And hills like turbans of brocade, whose beauty shames the sun at dawn and dusk. And a land as if molded from chrysolite, ruby, and coral, surrounded by Ridwa, Nu'man, Shamah, and Tufayl ³¹, and regions containing the greatest of all beings, so that the hearts of lovers ever incline towards them. ♦ O mountains of Nu'man, by Allah, let the morning breeze reach its breeze! ♦ Let me feel its coolness, or let it heal the heat * in a liver that has only its core left. ♦ For the east wind, whenever it breathes * upon a sorrowful liver, its cares are dispelled. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom gardens and orchards have moved to visit the shrine of the pride of kings and sultans. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the flash of lightning and the morning breeze have moved to visit the shrine of the master of the people of Sal' and Quba ³². O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the lote-tree, tamarisk, and palm-trees have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of the sacred hadith ³³ and the jewels of revelation and scripture. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the driver, the guide, and the leader have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of the clear path, the proof, and the evidence. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, the prayer of a servant whom the mention of Mount Ridwa, Shamah, and Tufayl have moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of beautiful character and lovely description.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the shaykh ³⁴, the arāk ³⁵, the idhkhir ³⁶, and the jalīl ³⁷ moved to visit the shrine of one whom his Lord praised in the Furqān ³⁸, the Torah, and the Gospel. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the ḍāll ³⁹ and the salam ⁴⁰ moved to visit the shrine of the master of the muṣallā ⁴¹ and the banner. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the sarḥ ⁴² and the ghaḍā ⁴³ moved to visit the shrine of the chosen Prophet and the approved Messenger. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the khayr ⁴⁴ and the yāsamīn ⁴⁵ moved to visit the shrine of Your beloved, the one with the clear forehead and temple. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the breeze of completion and flowers moved to visit the shrine of one from whose fingers water gushed forth and poured. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the fragrance of the nisrīn ⁴⁶ and the uqḥuwān ⁴⁷ moved to visit the shrine of the elite of the chosen ones and the lamp of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the scent of narcissus and myrtle moved to visit the shrine of the imam of the knowers and the light of the insight of the intelligent. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the fragrance of clove and saffron moved to visit the shrine of one whose scent perfumed the enclosures of holiness and the paradises of gardens. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the perfume of musk and aloeswood moved to visit the shrine of the adornment of adornment, the one with radiant cheeks and face. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom the aroma of the dwelling and ambergris moved to visit the shrine of the possessor of the luminous body and the most glorious face. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that adorns us with the overflowing influx of the secret of his most abundant supply, and makes us thereby in his ample shade and under the banner of his most luminous glory, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. * Amid the length of the nights of love and their shortness, I became perplexed in coming and going. * And those who entrusted the fire folded in the heart claimed, and they left my tears flowing in torrents. * Their mounts journeyed away from me, and when they departed, they took with them the reins of hearing and sight. * And I spent the night while its sides were not white, prostrate with longing, allied with passion and sleeplessness. * I almost melted from the excess of what I felt, were it not for hope and the heart's comfort in thoughts. * When the driver urged them toward the sanctuary, the heart flew for him but the body did not. * I called out when they departed and the places became empty, my distance from them increases, and my heart is in sparks. * Would that they had carried me in their saddles, so that I might fulfill there the utmost desire. * And at the bend of the ruins of Iḍam ⁴⁸, I say among the camel-drivers, with a broken voice: * I adjure you by Allah, O driver of the camels, stop for a breath at the curve and at Qibā ⁴⁹, so that my eyes may see them. * And turn toward Ṭaybah ⁵⁰ and graze in its pastures, for I have there a moon more radiant than the moon. * Muhammad, Aḥmad, the Praised, whose praiseworthy traces in glory are of lasting effect. * For his sake were the world and its counterpart, a blessing for the gain of remembrance for the heedful. * The most majestic of all upon whom the sun rose at forenoon, from among creation, both bedouin and settled. * And the most noble of all creatures, the utmost height, of those chosen by the Lord of the Throne from among Muḍar ⁵¹. * The pole of the prophets and messengers all together; were it not for him, the Creator would not have created the father of mankind. * Upon him be the most pure blessings of Allah eternally, filling space and the count of stars and trees. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a longing servant whom obstacles and hindrances have prevented from visiting the fortress of security and the refuge of creatures. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant far in abode and homeland. The blamers blamed him for his love and for visiting his illuminated shrine, so he cast off restraint and disclosed what was in his heart and settled. And he said: "How strange! How can life be pleasant for one who has fallen short of visiting his beloved, while with his family and kin?" O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a stranger whom obstacles have prevented from visiting his shrine and maintaining connection. So every year he revives it by writing to him, greeting him, and corresponding, asking Allah by his rank to make him among the people of his party, his proximity, and his company. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant weak in constitution and composition, whom destinies have prevented from visiting his illuminated shrine and plucking the flowers of the gardens of his fertile meadow. So he persists in his remembrance and asks Allah by his rank to bestow upon him His success, support, and imminent opening. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant enraptured by his beauties and attributes of perfection, whom obstacles have cut off from visiting his blessed shrine and seeing his landmarks and ruins. So he sufficed with praising him instead of eating and drinking, and made blessings upon him his habit, his custom, and his capital. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that quenches us from the Kawthar ⁵² of his delightful pool and the pure wine of its water, and delights us thereby with the vision of his radiant face in wakefulness and in sleep through the visitation of his image, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Congratulations to the one who visits Ṭaybah—upon its dweller be blessings and peace. * Congratulations to the one who has visited Ṭaybah, no distress until death therein; may I never lack staying there. * For whoever settles there is good, alive and dead; indeed it is established that it repels evil. * Would that I knew: will I see Ṭaybah, and will I urge my mount eagerly in its visitation? * And will I fulfill what is between the grave and the pulpit? Yes, and how many secrets are there disclosed! * I confide in the Messenger of Allah secretly at times, and then complain to him of grief and distress. * And I ask my Lord, seeking intercession through him, for guidance and joy until death and resurrection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom longing and yearning have consumed, and whose liver has shattered from the intensity of separation and burning. So his sighs rose, his regrets followed, and his tears flowed from the sockets of trust.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant whom You created, the mounts and companions, and whom the obstacle of incapacity prevented from reaching the owner of the Ascension and the Meeting ⁵³. So his soul melted due to what befell him, his breast seethed, and he was straitened. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant whom the influx of love ⁵⁴ moved, so his tears scattered and he yearned, and his spirituality was drawn to those illuminated landmarks and he longed. So he wandered ecstatically to visit the crown of glories, the pure of origins and roots, and the master of prophets and messengers in totality and absorption. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, whose collars and necks are fragrant, and his Companions described with beautiful attributes and noble morals, a blessing by which You heal our hearts from the disease of ignorance and hypocrisy, and by which You write us in the register of the people of good who hasten to the pleasure of their Lord, the Forerunner ⁵⁵, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. * By praising You, the eye of every monotheist is delighted, * And the heart and the listening ear yearn to Him. * When His verses are recited, his ecstasy increases, * And he spends the night with tears of the eye pouring onto the cheek. (18) * So is there for me a union, while the deserts are between us * And between you a barren land and mountains that are still? * And a land whose crossing perplexes thought, so * Its miles and leagues cannot be measured. * The sandgrouse are bewildered in crossing it, and the weary mounts * Fail to traverse even its nearest parts. * So how far is what I hope for of union, for I * Am empty-handed of wealth, and my leg is weak. * The lover has left no stratagem for union, * And success has not aided, so resolve is slack. * And I hope for union with the Prophet Muhammad, * Though I am one who smears the garment of repentance with sin. * Upon him be the blessing of Allah that erases my crimes, * Just as the light of dawn strips away the night. A transition from one state to another. And slumber and wakefulness, in which there is a cure for the eye of the lover and a collyrium ⁵⁶. And longing to visit the one to whom journeys are made ⁵⁷, and for whose love men and women are enraptured, and to whose illuminated places youths, elders, and children desire to arrive: our master Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the seal of the prophets and the master of messengers. (19) O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Who weeps much and sheds tears, longing to see those blessed places and abodes. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Who moans like a bereaved mother, longing to see the neighbors of Dhu Salam ⁵⁸, and the mosque, and the prayer place. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Who yearns and weeps tears of blood, longing to see Sala' ⁵⁹, and Alban ⁶⁰, and al-'Aqiq ⁶¹, and al-Hama ⁶². O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Who complains of separation and wanders in his sorrows, longing to see al-'Udhayb ⁶³, and Bariq ⁶⁴, and al-Baqi' ⁶⁵ and its inhabitants. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Whom love has burdened, and indolence and aversion (20) have wearied him from seeing al-Munhaná ⁶⁶ and the noble Rawha ⁶⁷ and what is around them of ruins, valleys, and highlands. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Abundant in passion, love, and longing, to see al-Hujur ⁶⁸, Mecca, and Tabah ⁶⁹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Who has forsaken sleeplessness and slumber, longing to see the tomb of one whom his Lord served above the earth and beneath the soil. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Who has abandoned family, bed, and sleeping places, longing to see the tomb of one whose mention delights tongues and ears. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Wounded in heart and entrails, longing to see the tomb of a master (21) whose fame has spread in the spiritual and physical worlds and become widespread. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Lost in his dazzling beauty and loveliness, yearning to see his blessed places, gardens, and mountains. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Annihilated in the beauties of his attributes and the perfections of his essence, inclining with longing to visit his honored garden ⁷⁰, his station, and his chambers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Who persists in praising Him in secret and public, and weeps longing to see his noble places and visit his grave. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we become among those who spread his praises, extolled his worth, spent their time in his service, and occupied their tongues with his remembrance, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. (22) O qibla ⁷¹ of beauty, before which the branches Have willingly prostrated to its slopes. For the prosody of your beauty, the maidens of passion Are agitated by the circles of your abandonment. And by the halo of a face like a circle, Attracting the meanings of your beauty. And in the body of the lover, ailments have run, And a defect without cause. So by the scansion of the entrails, a burning passion, By some of your glances, is cut short. And for the galloping of horses with his tears, From above his eye sockets, a trot. Like garlands of sacrificial animals, which A quest has hastened and joy has pulled. So the stages are pleasant, no fatigue You encounter there, nor hardship. To visit the sanctuary of the Chosen One, and whom The noble ones have testified to his message. The Guide, the Chosen, from the noblest Of faces of Kinana ⁷², the selected. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant Greatly longing and yearning for Him, hoping that Allah will grant him the favor of visiting his illuminated tomb and his sacred, secure sanctuary. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (23) with a blessing of a servant Great in love for Him and ecstasy, hoping that Allah will cause him to die between his grave and his pulpit, which is a garden from the gardens of Paradise. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with a blessing of a servant

He is full of longing and regret for seeing his station ⁷³ and reaching it. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his exalted shrine ⁷⁴ and standing before him. O God, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant deeply enamored with his remembrance and enraptured. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his shrine, from whose light the lights of those with insight and discernment are kindled. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant greatly desiring his visitation and seeking. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the sight of his hoped-for shrine, which is instrumental in fulfilling needs ⁷⁵ and attaining desires. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant greatly covetous of what is with him and hopeful. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his protective shrine, which shields from the vicissitudes of time whoever seeks refuge and takes shelter in it. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who frequently calls upon his name and cries out. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his saving shrine, which rescues whoever clings to it from the abysses of calamities, perils, and destruction. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who is deeply absorbed in him and immersed. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his shrine, which is the most noble of God's places absolutely and universally ⁷⁶. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who frequently extols his rank in gatherings and congregations. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his shrine, which delights in his mention in mouths and ears. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who constantly utters his remembrance in assemblies and tribes. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his shrine, which is the qibla ⁷⁷ of every supplicant and petitioner. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who praises him abundantly on festivals and seasons. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his shrine, whose fragrance spreads throughout all regions, directions, and climes. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who eagerly awaits seeing him through the passing of nights and days. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his shrine before descending into the grave and the sudden arrival of death. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who yearns for him intensely in travel and residence. He hopes that God will bestow upon him the visitation of his shrine and the sight of his face, which is the ultimate goal and the attainment of aspirations. So bless him, O God, and his noble and honorable family, and his distinguished and eminent companions, with a blessing that carries our messages to his station, which is observed with the eye of kindness and reverence, and through which You grant us his intercession, whose virtue is hoped for on the Day of Gathering, Resurrection, Presentation, and Crowding, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. He who has attained a great station with God. O master who has attained with God a station and rank above which no ranks rise, O protector of the highest realm, and through whom tribes are honored and Arabs are strengthened, Help a stranger in a land far from your sanctuary, who tomorrow leaves behind no provision nor family, For you are my request, my hope, my reliance, my dignity, my goal, and my desire. I have nothing but the flood of mercy from you that revives my soul when fear befalls me. Upon you be the purest blessing from your God, as long as you are mentioned and people become enraptured or joyful, And as long as a caller calls upon you and is answered, and Arabs and non-Arabs seek the house of your hospitality. O Muhammad, my longing to meet you in wakefulness and sleep has grown long; O Ahmad, how fortunate I would be if I were granted the sight of you and the visitation of your shrine, surrounded by veneration and glorification; O Prophet, upon you be the best of blessed blessings, the purest of good greetings, and the most honorable peace; O Beloved, remember me before your Lord in your praiseworthy and generous station. O Intercessor, intercede for me, for my parents, and for those who love me on that great occasion, for I am stained with sins and offenses, a captive of consequences and crimes. I have no hope except God's pardon and your good intercession, and no deliverance except clinging to your hem on the day when there is no one besides you under your banner and among your followers. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with a blessing more fragrant than musk, ambergris, and aloeswood, and more aromatic than the scent of cloves, jasmine, and roses. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with a blessing more fragrant than jasmine, narcissus, basil, and myrtle, and sweeter than the scent of lavender, sweet basil, and Indian agarwood. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with a blessing sweeter than sugar, sweets, honey, and honeycomb, and more precious than what souls and wealth are spent for, and in which the lover reaches the utmost effort. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with a blessing more valuable than coral, pearls, rubies, emeralds, and gold, and more delightful than sealed nectar in cups of pure gold, chrysolite, and coin. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who drank the wine of your love as an adult, a child, a youth, and in the cradle. Tomorrow he will sway with its breeze like a moist branch on a day of strong wind and cold. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom destinies prevented from reaching your station, O desire of the soul and ultimate goal. So his heart dwells in blessed Medina ⁷⁸ while his body is held captive in Abi al-Ja'd ⁷⁹. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who praises your noble qualities. Grant him Your pleasure and bestow generously upon him, O Truthful in speech and Faithful to promise. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who extols your rank and asks God to bestow upon him the sight of your face and the visitation of your illuminated shrine, O bride of the angels carried ⁸⁰.

In the litter of union and love. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant whom longing and passion have consumed, hoping that the guarded [white hair] of his old age may be forgiven in your illuminated precincts, and that he may rub his free face and cheeks in the places where your feet have trod. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who seeks refuge in your invincible neighborhood and seeks protection in your most sacred sanctuary from the evil of the lowly and the noble, the near and the far, the free and the slave. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who implores your intercession ⁸¹ in hardships and overwhelming matters, and seeks your help in both nearness and distance. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who hopes for your intercession in this world, at death, during the questioning ⁸², the gathering ⁸³, the bridge ⁸⁴, the balance ⁸⁵, and in the darkness of the grave. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, with the blessing of a servant who clings to your firmest handhold ⁸⁶ and seeks refuge in the purity of your most radiant face. So grant him protection, free his neck from the Fire, and dwell him with you in the highest paradises and the Garden of Eternity. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your excellent companions, people of might, pride, praise, and glory. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your noble, exemplary companions, possessors of goodness, virtue, righteousness, and guidance. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your venerable, generous companions, possessors of piety, patience, forbearance, trust, contentment, and asceticism. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your leading, eminent companions, possessors of courtesy, modesty, love, gratitude, and praise. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your righteous, pure companions. As long as the necks of the masters of eloquence are adorned with the pearls of your splendid praises, as a necklace and a string. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your noble, chosen companions. As long as your luminous full moon has moved in the sky of high stations and settled in the constellations of divine care and the rising stars of blessing and good fortune. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your pious, free supporters. As long as your virtues have multiplied, your qualities have become great, and your merits have transcended enumeration, counting, and numbering. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your in-laws, crowned with the crown of might and pride, filling the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and whatever else You will. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your followers and adherents, people of divine care, opening ⁸⁷, and victory. A blessing without depletion, termination, end, limit, or bound. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, and your pure wives and your offspring, regarded with the eye of awe, tranquility, and dignity. A blessing by which You fulfill for us Your right and their right, and by which You release us from obligations and fulfill the covenant. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, a blessing that I take as a means ⁸⁸ with You and by which I seek protection from the accidents of deprivation, deficiency, and the onslaughts of severance, abandonment, distance, and expulsion. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom the motives of divine ecstasies ⁸⁹ have moved, so they come to your illuminated tomb ⁹⁰ with love and longing, in the most honorable company, the most generous fellowship, and the best delegation. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those who have circumambulated your noble chamber ⁹¹, plucked the flowers of its lofty gardens, and drunk deeply from the Salsabil ⁹² of its delightful, sweet watering-place and source. May God bless you and your family, O Muhammad, a blessing by which we seek the rain of the gifts of Your mercy and grace, and by which we beg for the treasures of Your bounty and the flood of Your vast generosity, giving, and aid. And grant abundant and exalted peace. Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. Oh, O breeze that has come from the sanctuary of Najd ⁹³, Dragging the trains of fragrance from the scent of the rose, And passed over the valley of al-‘Aqiq ⁹⁴, stirring up The pangs of my longings and the passion within me. Have mercy, if you visit the sanctuary and its dwellings, Then at the station of the Chosen One, the Pure, the Guided, [Convey] the greeting of a longing one whose heart is in Tayyiba ⁹⁵, While his body is in the dust of Abu al-Ja‘d ⁹⁶. And relate to him what I suffer from love-sickness, And what in the conscience of love is from the shock of loss. And say to him: Will you not bestow a kind glance Upon a lover, brother of yearning and passion, Who hopes to meet you with cheerfulness and satisfaction, And to obtain from you compassion and love? So regard him, my Master, with a glance from You That gives rest to the innermost heart from what it suffers of deceit. And clothe him from the secret of divine care with a robe By which he may walk proudly over the free and the slave. Upon you be from the Most Merciful the purest greeting, Fragrant of sleeves, sweet of scent, And upon your family and companions, as long as a singer says: "Oh, O breeze that has come from the sanctuary of Najd." Chapter on Conveying Greetings to the Tomb of the Chosen One, may God bless him and grant him peace. Its author—may God pardon him, make piety his treasure, increase him, and enable him to attain the goal and desire of visiting his beloved, our master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace—said: When I had finished expressing longing to visit his honored city, regarded with the eye of veneration and glorification, I followed it with conveying greetings to his tomb, surrounded by blessing, piety, and respect. For it is reported from him, peace be upon him, that he said: "There is no one who greets me but that God returns my soul to me so that I may return the greeting to him," or as he said. And it has been narrated from some of the eminent scholars ⁹⁷ that he said: "Whoever finds it difficult to reach the grave of our master Muhammad on foot, let him intend to visit him with his heart and convey greetings to him over the passing of nights and days, for the angels will deliver it to him." And it is narrated that: "God has three wandering angels ⁹⁸ who convey to me the greetings of my community." The virtues of conveying greetings to him, may God bless him and grant him peace, are well-known; we have mentioned them elsewhere. End.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who swims in the seas of his Muhammadan perfections ⁹⁹ and sends peace to his illuminated, fragrant, and breezy station ¹⁰⁰ and to his tomb ¹⁰¹, whose soil is sweeter than the nectar of Kawthar ¹⁰² and the drink of Tasnim ¹⁰³. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant with intense longing and passion for him, and sends peace to his station that heals through seeking his intercession ¹⁰⁴ from chronic diseases and ailments, and to his tomb, which is brighter than the shining stars, the blazing suns, and the full moons. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant with great love and infatuation for him, and sends peace to his station, which is specially designated for expiating transgressions and erasing crimes and sins, and to his tomb, whose fragrance is more aromatic than the scent of jasmine, cloves, lavender, and roses in bloom. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (35) a blessing of a servant who praises him throughout the nights and days, and sends peace to his station that rescues whoever seeks refuge in it from destructive abysses and great calamities, and to his tomb, whose scent is more pleasant than the fragrance of common ambergris, costly perfumes, and the musk of sealing ¹⁰⁵. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who praises him and extols him with the jewels of prose and verse, and sends peace to his station that delivers whoever seeks protection in it from the trial of the grave and the terror of the Day of Presentation and Crowding ¹⁰⁶, and to his tomb, which is more splendid than the brilliant star, the necklaces of pearls on the necks of the wide-eyed houris ¹⁰⁷, and the secluded maidens in pavilions. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing whose blessing returns to us at the beginning and the end, and make it for us a treasure that we find upon entering the grave and the throes of death, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who yearns to see his radiant face and sends peace to his honored and pure station, and to his purified, fragrant, and sweet-smelling tomb. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (36) a blessing of a servant who constantly utters his sweet and delightful remembrance, and sends peace to his blessed and exalted station, and to his tomb, which is distinguished by the conclusive proof and the manifest secret. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who calls out to him in absence and presence, and sends peace to his venerated and renowned station, and to his tomb, which is honored by Allah and accepted. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who persists in blessing him in the evenings and mornings, and sends peace to his station, whose rank is proclaimed in the worlds of the unseen and the seen, and to his tomb, which is exalted above all regions of the earth and the Much-Frequented House ¹⁰⁸. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who revives him every year through his correspondence and letters, and sends peace to his station, of whose noble qualities and virtues the narrators boast, and to his tomb, from which yearning souls derive comfort through the mention of his Muhammadan hadiths ¹⁰⁹ and the praise of his noble traits. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (37) a blessing of a servant who seeks blessing through him in his supplications and means, and sends peace to his station, which is linked to happiness in its ends and beginnings, and to his tomb, which cuts off the appearance of deniers through the proofs of its evidences and indications. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which the one who blesses boasts in his gatherings and tribes, and through which he fortifies himself against the plots, deceptions, and snares of Satan, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his mighty station, whose virtues are mentioned in books, and to his guarded tomb, whose traces of merits are inscribed in the pages of registers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his magnificent station, whose precincts are filled with all kinds of good things, and to his beautiful tomb, whose jewels of praises are spread in the gatherings of lovers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his immense station, upon whose generosity the hopes of the desirous are focused (38), and to his glorious tomb, whose armies of his lovers are victorious over enemies. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his blessed station, whose secrets are hidden in the hearts of his lovers, and to his fortunate tomb, whose visitors' hearts are delighted by the blessing that returns to them from him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his venerated station, whose abundant favors are spread upon the servants, and to his preferred tomb, whose miracles are famous among those who seek refuge in his presence. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his glorified station, to which journeys are undertaken, and to his honored tomb, by visiting which men boast and spend their lives and wealth in love for him. (39) O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his illuminated station, by seeing which souls and states become pleasant, and to his purified tomb, by visiting which worries are relieved, and griefs and terrors are dispelled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his most precious station, by whose blessing bonds and locks are opened, and to his most holy tomb, by visiting which kings, freemen, and masters become proud. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing of a servant who sends peace to his generous station, whose visitors' faces are smiling and rejoicing, and to his immense tomb, whose visitors' states in love for him are pure and untroubled.

So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which You forgive our past and future sins, and by which You make the affairs of our religion and our worldly life easy, not difficult, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Peace be upon the best of creation, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. * Peace be upon the best of creation, Ahmad, the messenger of God who came with good as a guide. * A peace that shows you musk when it blows, and surpasses the scent of flowers when it wafts. * And I praise him with blessings, for indeed they elevate a person's station on the Day of Witness. * That is an emphasized obligation in the Book, a saying on the path of the way, guided. * He is the supreme master; to him belong might and highness; to him belong the highest goal and all sovereignty. * How noble is he upon whom peace is sent, and blessings are invoked sincerely, not out of flattery. * And magnify his rank, for he has shed his sin, and has attained an everlasting reward abundant in benefit. * And he has an abode in the abode of honor, with the houris and youths in a most pleasant life. * So may Allah bless him as long as a bird sings, and as long as light shines in the horizon for the North Star. * And grant him peace repeatedly, a renewed peace, perpetually repeating, fragrant with perfume, precious. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his station, whose care is pre-eternal in pre-eternity, and to his shrine, which the traditions of those who praise him speak of. ¹¹⁰ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his station, whose fragrances are pervasive in the world of existence, and to his shrine, whose banners of glory flutter over its chambers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his station, whose generous gifts break through customs, and to his shrine, whose visitation removes sorrows and repels sudden calamities. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his station, whose love is sincere in the hearts of believers, and to his shrine, whose visitation obliterates the sins of those who commit major sins. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his station, upon which the lights of acceptance shine, and to his shrine, whose fragrant breezes waft in the meadows of the kingdom and the dominion. ¹¹¹ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his station, whose hearts of lovers overflow with love for him, and to his shrine, whose caravans of yearning ones travel to his soil morning and evening. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his station, towards which the eyes of lovers gaze at the beauties of his splendor, and to his shrine, in which the souls of the near ones swim in the oceans of his beauty. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which You preserve our deeds from every affliction and calamity, and by which You make our trade in the markets of the people of goodness and righteousness profitable and gainful, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his praised station, from which the flashes of Muhammadan lights emanate, and to his witnessed shrine, from which the fragrant breezes of Ahmadine secrets spread. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, ¹¹² the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his revered station, from which the emotions of eternal happiness are sought, and to his kissed shrine, from which the streams of spiritual supports flow. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his honored station, which the worlds of Throne-like spirits celebrate, and to his glorified shrine, to which the necks of earthly forms bow. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his most radiant station, from which the growing blessings of sainthood are sought, and to his most delightful shrine, from which the gifts of sensory and spiritual sciences are derived. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his most brilliant station, from whose sides ¹¹³ the fragrant breezes of Mecca and Medina waft, and to his most exalted shrine, by which the darknesses of polytheism and ignorance are dispelled by the lights of his prophetic, chosen countenance. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his highest station, before which the blossoms of the stars are ashamed of the brilliance of his pearl-like stars, and to his most protected shrine, towards which eyes aspire to see his pure and pleasing places. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which You give us to drink from the cups of his Kawthar-like, delicious love, and by which You gather us with his pure and immaculate group, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Peace be upon him than whom no creation is higher in rank, the Chosen One, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. So grant peace, a peace whose fragrance surpasses flowers, upon the Chosen Guide, the Intercessor, the Preponderant, Muhammad, the Elect from the clan of Hashim, upon him the banner of the Gathering will be unfurled on the Day of Gathering. So bless him, then bless and grant peace, that perhaps the pleasure of the Merciful, O friend, may be granted. For no creation is higher in rank than him among mankind; who else but him does Allah praise in the Remembrance? To him belongs the highest honor, to him belongs glory and highness, to him belongs the highest goal, by him victory is gained. Upon him be peace, ever renewed, for all time, or as long as the lightning flashes. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, ¹¹⁴ the blessing of a servant who offers peace to his observed station, whose like is rare in existence, and to his preserved shrine, whose fragrance belittles the scent of musk and ambergris.

He whose commander has taken possession of the hearts of the yearning ones. And his purified tomb ¹¹⁵, whose envoy ¹¹⁶ has awakened the dormant natures of intellects. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his most renowned station ¹¹⁷, whose bearer ¹¹⁸ announces the attainment of happiness. And his luminous tomb ¹¹⁵, whose knower ¹¹⁹ points to the perfection of sovereignty. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his purest station ¹¹⁷, whose supporter ¹²⁰ releases the bonds of the imprisoned. And his radiant tomb ¹¹⁵, whose warner ¹²¹ awakens the minds of the heedless. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (46) the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his merciful station ¹¹⁷, whose praise and eulogy tongues utter. And his lordly tomb ¹¹⁵, at whose courtyard and precinct the burdens of hope are cast. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his luminous station ¹¹⁷, whose tongues delight in the gifts of his generosity and giving. And his spiritual tomb ¹¹⁵, from whose sea of generosity and munificence delegations draw. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his thanked station ¹¹⁷, by which the visitor rests from his toil and weariness. And his visited tomb ¹¹⁵, by which the sick seeks healing from his ailment and disease. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his highest station ¹¹⁷, by whose beacon and light the noble ones are guided. And his fortified, protected tomb ¹¹⁵, under whose walls and structure the barefoot seek shade. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing whose blessing the lover finds in his hardship and ease, and takes it as a strong fortress from the evil of his enviers and enemies. By Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. (47) Peace, like the fragrance of a garden from the fall of dew, upon you, O Messenger of Allah, O abode of guidance. O descent place of angels and revelation, you have always been a companion in the visited ¹²² of the Messenger, glorified. O tomb of the Chosen One ¹²³, may I ransom you with my soul, even if it is less than the ransom. O his house alive and his resting place dead, for you in both states are a house and a shrine. You contain the limbs of the Messenger, a dwelling, a cradle from Paradise in you, prepared. May Allah water your soil with the best of what He waters, and bless the one who lies in you, reclining. O abode of the righteous, how exalted a dwelling, and O mosque of the virtuous, you are honored as a mosque. As if I see the companions of Muhammad, in your precincts, lined up bowing and prostrating. In you appears a garden from the Garden of Eternity, around which angels circle in pairs and singly. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his high station by Allah and his elevated, magnified rank before Allah. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his protected station by the protection of Allah (48) and his presence preserved from misery by the infallibility of Allah. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his station immersed in the remembrance of Allah and his building founded on the piety of Allah. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his station that delights with the light of Allah, and his shrine ¹²⁴ designated for the pleasure of Allah. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the blessing of a servant who conveys peace to his accepted station before Allah, and his sanctuary ¹²⁵ approved by Allah. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You honor us with Your pleasure and his pleasure, and make us among those who seek shade under his ample shade and seek protection in his protection, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Peace from the Merciful, whose fragrance flourishes, I bestow especially upon the best of mankind, Muhammad. Peace, pleasure, spirit, and mercy upon his soul, as long as a striver goes and returns. O chosen one of the Merciful from the best of His creation, the tallest in stature and greatest in lordship (49), upon you be the peace of Allah, as long as a poet says: "Peace, like the fragrance of a garden from the fall of dew." Peace be upon you, O Muhammad, from a lover whom longing has worn out and wasted, and obstacles have prevented from reaching your tomb ¹¹⁵, whose light of the universe is by the light of its splendor and the brightness of its radiance. Peace be upon you, O Ahmad, from a yearning one whom passion has emaciated and consumed, and hindrances have prevented from reaching your tomb ¹¹⁵, whose fragrance of the corners of the kingdom and the celestial realm is by the scent of its aroma and the sweetness of its breezes. Peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah, from a lover who has sighs within the cavities of his ribs that come and go, and a vital spirit that burns and blazes with the heat of tears. And how, O my master, O Messenger of Allah, should I not melt in grief and send down tears like clouds? Or how, O my master, O beloved of Allah, should I find life sweet and enjoy pleasures, and ask for salvation for myself, and inhale the wafts of mercies, and seek the gifts of generosities, and request the highest stations, while I have not traversed the path to visit you, nor crossed the sea to your sacred tomb ¹¹⁵, nor wearied a soul for you—You are its savior and deliverer—nor hidden a spirit for you—You are its reviver and giver of life—nor crossed a land in your love (50) that distances hopes while your longing brings it near, nor shed a tear at the sites of your noble soil to water it, nor dismounted from the mount in honor of the purified ground in which you lie, nor stood facing that illuminated tomb ¹¹⁵, nor rubbed my honored gray hair in the soil of that vast, purified presence. Alas, if I do not hasten to your grave facing it, and fall upon your dust kissing it, and see in your illuminated precincts supplicating and imploring. Nay, alas, if I do not stand between the grave and the pulpit ¹²⁶, and do not witness your garden ¹²⁷ which is among the illuminated gardens of Paradise, and do not inhale the scent of your Paradise which is more fragrant than musk and ambergris, and more aromatic than clove, jasmine, and red rose, and more precious than pure gold, ruby, and green emerald. O my master, O Messenger of Allah, if my body is a prisoner and resident in the West, then my heart swims and roams in the seas of your love, and my heart is smitten and sick with passion for you. So draw me by you to yourself until we stand at your noble door, and intercede through your rank with the High and Great Lord for the forgiveness of what I have committed of sin that leads to the heat of hellfire and the torment of the blazing fire. O my master, O Messenger of Allah, you are our goal and the utmost of our hopes, and dearer to us than ourselves and our families.

And our wealth, and He is more compassionate to us than our fathers and mothers, and You are the Kind, the Forbearing, and to the believers [You are] Gentle, Merciful ¹²⁸. (51) Indeed, visiting your noble grave and your lofty, exalted mosque is among the greatest acts of drawing near to Allah and acts of obedience, and the most excellent of righteous deeds and profitable trades. It is the path to the highest ranks and lofty stations. Whoever believes otherwise has cast off the bond of Islam and opposed Allah, His Messenger, and the eminent scholars. My master, O Messenger of Allah, happiness—all happiness—is for those who hasten their journey to you in the evening and morning, and expend their souls, wealth, and bodies in visiting you, until there appears to them from those hills and plains a mountain that gladdens hearts and souls, heralding the proximity of a shrine whose light shone and gleamed over the honored Medina, and whose musk diffused and spread throughout its blessed precincts. So the visitors race to it, ascending it eagerly to behold those places and abodes, and to acquire the gifts of those secrets and the gleams of those lights, when the lightning flashes of the lights of the prophetic sanctuaries flash for them, and the fragrant breezes of the Muhammadan places blow upon them. Then at that point, [the soul] becomes fragrant and vanishes, and experiences ecstasy ¹²⁹ when the abodes of the Beloved, the Loving, appear to it, and it beholds the landmarks of the Master of the Banner, the Crown, the Turban, and the Staff ¹³⁰. It draws near to the noble city and its landmarks, approaches the sight of its generous hills and its heights, and inhales the fragrance of the subtlety of its flowers and the bloom of its buds. And the lightning flashes of its veneration and glorification appear to its beholder (52), and successive gifts and bestowals pour down upon it, and treasures of virtues and excellences follow in succession. Their souls rest from weariness, and the afflictions of sickness, fatigue, and exhaustion depart from them. Their children greet them with joy and delight, so they dismount from their mounts for them, and honor them with the finest gifts and noblest presents. All honor is for the one whose eye falls upon the noble grave and the exalted, magnificent mosque, and then, from intense joy, tears flow copiously. Until some of the dust from his noble soil reaches [the walls] and moistens the chambers and walls, and [the visitor] rubs his cheeks in those courtyards, and stands before the Master of Masters, the most perfect of the inhabitants of the earths and heavens—my master and lord, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and they recite: "O you who are infatuated and yearning, congratulations for what you have attained of the delight of meeting! Tell your eyes to glisten with joy—how long they have made you happy on the day of parting! Gather together ecstasy and joy in delight, and all sorrows and yearnings. Command the eye to pour forth in torrents and continuously with its shed tears. This is their abode, and you are a lover—what remains of tears in the horizons?" When hearts are filled with joys, bodies forget the harms they encounter. When souls are blessed with the spirit of proximity, bodies care not for the hardship they endure. What blessing is greater than arriving at the abode of the Messenger? What pleasure is more delightful and sweeter than enjoying the sight of his tomb, which is the ultimate wish and desire, and the final goal and attainment of the hoped-for? (53) So may Allah bless you, O best of messengers, O best of those who are unique in miracles. And bless the righteous, your family—indeed, by their light does he who has renounced [the world] follow. They are the people from whom Allah removed all impurity and placed in them every good and supported [them]. And bless your radiant Companions—indeed, they are stars by which he who is guided will be saved tomorrow. Divine blessings and multiplied peace upon the Chosen, the Elect, as long as the expanse extends. Radiant, lofty domes, beautiful, silk-like courtyards, delightful holy processions, pure and wholesome sights, ambergris-scented, musk-perfumed places, covered by Muhammadan, Ahmadine lights, and Mustafawian, prophetic secrets, and gifts of holy, Madinan breaths, and compassionate, good-pleased, lordly affections. It is incumbent upon every Muslim to visit the Illuminated Medina. "So blessed be Allah, the best of creators" ¹³¹. And sufficient for its honor is his saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: "Medina purges its evil; it adorns my ornament, and it is incumbent upon every Muslim to visit it." (54) O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved of pure roots and lineage, Your chosen one described with pure traits and noble character, Your intimate one whose tomb, regions, and horizons are illumined, the sight of whose blessed landmarks stirs yearnings, delights tastes, and engenders in the heart a love for him that cannot be measured or endured. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved whose collars and necklaces are fragrant, Your chosen one who by his resolve pierces the veils, canopies, and the seven heavens, Your saint who gladdens with his abundant gifts and dazzling miracles the interiors of scrolls and pages, he who, when a visitor visits his lush garden, becomes ascetic in this world and what it contains of ornaments, garments, jewels, rubies, and precious valuables. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved upon whose prophethood and message there is unanimous agreement, Your chosen one to whom (55) mounts yearn and caravans journey, Your prophet who heals hearts from the disease of ignorance and hypocrisy through love of him, he who, when a visitor visits his tomb, surrounded by light, radiance, and illumination, wanders in the valleys of his love and becomes one of those absent in his beauty and immersed [in contemplation]. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You release us from the noose, suffice us against the evil of hardship and poverty, and make us among those who attain his good pleasure, those who hasten to his presence, the forerunners, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved of surpassing beauty and adornment, Your chosen one whose side is protected from every deficiency and defect, he who, when a visitor visits his splendid garden, gives freely of his soul, wealth, family, and eye, and spends in his love the light of his sight and the black of his eye. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved who removes from those under his care the loneliness of poverty and separation, Your chosen one whose tongue is free from uttering falsehood, slander, and deceit, he who, when a visitor visits his excellent garden, Allah protects him from the evil of every spy and [evil] eye, facilitates his affairs, and guards him (56) from the evil he fears, and fulfills what is due from him of obligations and debts.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the grandfather of al-Hasan and al-Husayn, and Your chosen one who removes from hearts the veils of error and rust, who, when a visitor visits his illuminated garden, becomes immersed in his love until there is no "between" and no "where," and becomes independent through him of every virtuous and noble one and every eye. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which You repel from us the accidents of deficiency and defect, and deliver us through it from the causes of error and the pitfalls of ruin and destruction, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, great in rank and status, and Your chosen one, sound in chain and traditions, who, when a visitor visits his garden—laden with ripe dates and fruits, flourishing with gardens, meadows, and flowers—the oceans of gifts and secrets overflow upon his heart, and the glad tidings of good and the gleams of shining lights appear on his face. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, pure in branch and lineage, and Your chosen one, lofty in station, glory, and honor, who, when a visitor visits his radiant garden—splendid in dwellings and abodes, vast in expanse and directions, pure in water and air, abundant in waters and trees, extended in layout and level, excellent in arrangement and construction, the like of which has never been seen in any other region or clime—his distresses are relieved, his sins are forgiven, and all his faults and burdens are wiped away. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who glorifies You in the evening and at dawn, and Your chosen one, who persists in Your remembrance during the hardships of night and the ends of day, who, when a visitor visits his flower-like garden—blessed in soil and shrine, whose hills have never smelled sweeter nor whose morning breeze more fragrant, whose land has never been seen more joyful, nor its garden more delightful, nor its pool more pure from the dregs of turbidity and otherness, nor its air clearer, nor its light brighter, nor its radiance more noble, nor its light more brilliant, nor its surface more delicate, nor anything more clinging to the heartstrings than its fragrance and breeze—adorned with the wafts of morning and the breezes of dawn, it cures his apparent and hidden ailments and heals him from all pains, sicknesses, and harms. What excellent places of lofty status, exalted glory, blessed visitation, radiant lights, overflowing secrets! Sights and insights are bewildered at their vision, and thoughts and minds are stunned at their beauties. How could it not be so, when our Lord has honored it above all other lands and regions, and magnified its distinction over all towns and cities, by making it the homeland of the one from whose light the suns and moons have shone, and from whose Muhammadan aid the prophets, messengers, saints, chosen ones, and the righteous have drawn, and by making it a garden from the gardens of Paradise and the burial place of His beloved, the Chosen, the Elect, along with his family, wives, and noble, pure companions. Upon him and upon them be the best of blessings and the purest of peace from Allah, as long as night and day alternate and ages and eras follow one another. Amen, amen, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O driver of camels, entertain me with their remembrance, perhaps one day I will find rest with the neighbors of the sand dunes. And the flash of lightning from their smiles resembles my heart whenever it appears in the palpitation. And greet the dwellers of the arāk trees in Nuʿmān, hoping they may be kind to me with the tenderness of the bending willow. This fragrant robe is wafting, and this luxuriant garden—inhale its scent. And this chamber of the Chosen One is radiant with lights—so rise to Paradise and race to it. Muhammad is the Chosen, the Guide, the Messenger to all laws, religions, and sects. Upon him be the purest blessings and peace from the Merciful, dripping with fragrant musk. His rank is greatest, his station most glorious, his honor most enduring, his beloved most generous, his master kind, compassionate, most clement, his prophet noble, affectionate, gentle, tender, most merciful. "There has certainly come to you a messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful." ¹³² O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, brilliant in miracles and grace, and Your chosen one, called the possessor of the crown and turban, who said regarding the virtues of his noble visit: "Whoever visits me seeking reward, I will be an intercessor for him on the Day of Resurrection." ¹³³ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the essential light, and Your chosen one, whose love has taken hold of my heart and the worlds of my secret and essence, and Your messenger, whose secret permeates my creation, character, states, and all my attributes, who said: "Whoever visits me after my death is as if he visited me during my life." ¹³⁴ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the truthful and trustworthy, and Your chosen one, sent as a mercy to the worlds, and Your prophet, raised with clear signs and the manifest Book, who said: "Whoever dies in one of the two sanctuaries, Allah will raise him on the Day of Resurrection among the secure, the secure." ¹³⁵ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the clement and oft-returning, and Your chosen one, who was given the comprehensive words and decisive speech, and Your trustee, mentioned by name in battle and in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, who said: "Whoever dies in one of the two sanctuaries as a pilgrim for Hajj or ʿUmra, Allah will raise him on the Day of Resurrection with no account and no punishment." ¹³⁶ Al-Madīna is the dome of Islam. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the frequent faster and constant prayer, and Your chosen one, lofty in rank and station, and Your prophet, who prayed to You at night while people slept, who said: "Al-Madīna is the dome of Islam, the abode of faith, the land of emigration, and the source of rulings on the lawful and unlawful." ¹³⁷ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the path of guidance and uprightness, and the bride of the angels, crowned with the crown of honor and dignity, who said: "Whoever among you can die in al-Madīna, let him die there, for I will intercede for whoever dies there on the Day of Resurrection." ¹³⁸

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the best of those who raised the structure of Islam and elevated it, and the most exalted of those who demolished the religion of disbelief and lowered it. He who said: "O Allah, Abraham declared Mecca sacred, and I declare Medina sacred just as Abraham declared Mecca sacred, and the like with it." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the best of those through whom the nations sought intercession to their Lord, and the most honored of those through whom intercession was sought to repel their hardships and great distress. He who said: "O Allah, make Medina beloved to us as we love Mecca or even more." So his supplication was answered regarding it, such that when he saw it, he would urge his mount out of love for it. ⁶² O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the best of those who turned to You with heart and body, and the most excellent of those whom You granted Your pleasure and treated with every good that is with You. He who said concerning the virtue of Medina: "O Allah, You have brought me out of the most beloved land to me, so settle me in the most beloved land to You." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the best of those whose mention tongues utter in secret and public, and the most blessed of those through whom healing is sought for those with apparent and hidden diseases from their ailment and harm. He who said: "Indeed, faith retreats to Medina just as a snake retreats to its hole." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the best of those who clarified the landmarks of the Sharia ¹³⁹ and paved them thoroughly, and the most beloved of those whom You provided with righteous deeds and sound speech. He who said: "No one from my community endures the hardship and severity of Medina except that I will be an intercessor or witness for him on the Day of Resurrection." Prayer in the Mosque of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ⁶³, the best of those whom his Lord brought near to His presence and chose, and the closest of those whom He made worthy of prophethood and messengerhood and approved. He who said: "A prayer in my mosque is equal to a thousand prayers elsewhere, and a Friday [prayer] in my mosque is equal to a thousand Friday [prayers] elsewhere." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the best of those whose rank and status are magnified among the prophets and messengers, and the most fragrant of scent in the gardens of holiness, and whose fragrance spreads in the highest heavens. He who said: "A prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousand prayers elsewhere, except the Sacred Mosque ¹⁴⁰. And whoever purifies himself in his home, then comes to a mosque and prays a prayer, he will have the reward of an Umra ¹⁴¹." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the best of those whose rank rose in the horizon of high stations and soared, and the purest of those whose branch grew in pure loins and flourished. It is narrated from the great eminent scholars that his Muhammadan mosque is the best of mosques after Mecca for the one who bows and prostrates. And his tomb is the best of tombs for the one departing and arriving. And his city is the best of cities for the resident and the visitor. Its soil is faithful, its rank elevated, its air and water pure, abundant ⁶⁴ in fertility and growth, noble in attributes and names, its regions perfumed by the descent of revelation from the Lord of heaven, its sides surrounded by fragrant breezes of blessings and abundant favors. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the adornment of companions and family, the seal of the prophets and master of the messengers. It is narrated that his honored city—its dust extinguishes leprosy and vitiligo, its breeze heals ailments and diseases, its dates cure the poisons of snakes, scorpions, and all harmful creatures. Its sheep are unlike any other sheep; their pasture is flowers and the 'anam ¹⁴² plant, their grazing ground is idhkhir ¹⁴³ and the flowers of the hills. Their meat and milk are multiplied for the neighbors of Sal', Quba, al-'Aqiq, and al-Ban ¹⁴⁴. It has dragged the trains of pride over all regions in haughtiness, for the Beloved ¹⁴⁵ declared sacred what lies between its throat and its navel and its two lava fields ¹⁴⁶. No fear or terror enters it from the calamities of disbelief, plague, and the Dajjal ¹⁴⁷. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the essence of virtues and miracles, and the best of those who were distinguished with clear signs and supernatural wonders. There is consensus that the place that contained his noble limbs is better than the place of ⁶⁵ the Ka'ba ¹⁴⁸, the Throne ¹⁴⁹, the Footstool ¹⁵⁰, and all places of the earth and heavens. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the locus of goodness, blessing, and benedictions, and the best of those who led his community on the path of guidance and the ways of salvation. The imams of Islam have agreed that visiting his noble grave is a strongly recommended sunna ¹⁵¹ upon which there is consensus, a noble virtue encouraged, and that it is among the greatest means and most honorable acts of drawing near, the highest virtues and greatest desires, and that it is the cause leading to the greatest pleasure and the highest ranks. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the imam of Your sincere and certain friends, and the model of Your chosen, pious, and humble ones. He who said: "Whoever visits my grave, my intercession becomes obligatory for him. Whoever comes to me as a visitor with no need other than my visit, it is incumbent upon me to be an intercessor for him on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever visits me seeking reward in Medina will be in my protection on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever visits me after my death is as if he visited me in my life. Whoever dies in one of the two sanctuaries ¹⁵² will be resurrected among the secure." So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You grant us the visitation of his tomb, which is the desire of the seekers, the ultimate hope of the hopeful, and the wish of the desirous, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ⁶⁶ * Congratulations to you, O people of Tayba ¹⁵³, truly deserved * For by proximity to the best of creation you have attained precedence * Let no one among you move to * Any other place, even if time is harsh and difficult * For how many a king sought to attain what * You have attained, but could not, even if he owned all creation * Glad tidings to you, you have attained the care of your Lord * As you are drowned in the sea of His grace * You see the Messenger of Allah at every moment * And whoever sees him is truly blessed by him * Whenever you come, the door is not closed before you * And the door of the beneficent does not accept being closed

He hears your complaints and relieves your distress, and does not withhold goodness from free or slave. With the sweetness of your glad tidings and the most generous of messengers, He watches over you, and time runs in your favor. How many a blessing from God is upon you for gratitude, and God's favors are preserved by gratitude. Are you safe from the Dajjal ¹⁵⁴ therein? For around it are angels protecting the roads from it. Likewise, you are safe from the plague, so the face of the nights remains cheerful for you. So look only to the face of your Beloved, and if the world comes and goes, it makes no difference. In life and death you are under His mercy, and in resurrection, the veil of honor is cast over you. O one who departs from it seeking a world, do you seek what perishes and leave what remains? Do you leave the precinct and neighborhood of the Prophet for another? Such folly from one like you is indeed justified. If you travel seeking aid from a generous one, then the most generous of creation is what you meet. Provision is apportioned and does not increase, even if you travel until you almost pierce the horizons. How many a sedentary person has God expanded his provision, and a traveler has had his provision constrained among people. So live in the protection of the Best of Mankind and die therein, if you seek to ascend in both abodes. When you stand between the grave and the pulpit ¹⁵⁵ in Madina, know where your highest station is. Indeed, the Merciful has blessed the neighbor of Muhammad, and whoever is a neighbor in his journey is the most wretched. Zephyrs of spirit and basil, gifts of grace and favor, tidings of pardon and forgiveness, omens of happiness, blessing, and security, keys of miracles, gardens, and divine pleasure, adorned with bliss, chambers, palaces, houris, and immortal youths. And traditions indicating the high stations of the Master of Beings, the Bride of the Paradises of Gardens, my Master and Lord, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. And honor, generosity, glory, and grandeur. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise was created for his sake. "Indeed, at my Basin there are vessels as numerous as the stars of the sky; my Community drinks from it, and whoever drinks from it a drink will never thirst again." Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise was created for his sake. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise was formed from his bounty. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise was adorned from his generosity. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise was established by his justice. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise longed for his visit and union. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise was honored by the steps of his sandal. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's courtyards expanded by his grace and bounty. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's virtues became famous through his words and deeds. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise sought refuge in his presence and clung to his firmest handhold and rope. So bless him, O God, and his family, a blessing that purifies the heart from envy and rancor, and by which we become among those saved from the trial of the grave, its reckoning, and its terror, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the Worlds. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's breezes wafted from his sleeves. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's gates were opened from his pleasure. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's blessings multiplied from the gifts of his goodness. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's blessing grew from the flood of his abundance. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's honor appeared from the support of his title. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise strengthened its inhabitants by attaining his security. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's arenas were adorned by the firmness of his structure. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's landmarks were clarified by the verses of his Criterion ¹⁵⁶. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's ranks were elevated by his entry. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise's scenes were illuminated by his descent and dwelling therein. O God, bless and grant peace to our Master and Lord Muhammad and to the family of our Master Muhammad, Your Beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise."

And Paradise, its ranks are magnified by his ¹⁵⁷ settlement in it, with his origins and branches. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its lights shone by the setting of his brilliant star ¹⁵⁸ in it and its waning. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its assemblies expanded by his pleasure upon those who dwell in it and his acceptance. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You preserve our tongues from idle speech and its excesses, and accompany us with Your pardon and forgiveness at the time of entering the grave and its descent, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its flowers ripened by his watering. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its branches bore fruit by meeting him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, all of it was illuminated by the light of his splendor and the radiance of his brilliance. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its regions were perfumed by his fragrance and the scent of his aroma. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its inhabitants were enchanted by his pleasure. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its people attained their goal and desire by reaching him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its trees became green by the clouds of his rain and his dew. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its palaces and dwellings rose high by his looking at them and his vision. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its blessings multiplied by his entering it and his walking in it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, its worlds rejoiced at his arrival to it when he returned from his Night Journey ¹⁵⁹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, it bowed in reverence to his awe and his highness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And Paradise, it surrendered its reins when it saw him and said: "Welcome, welcome, and ease to my master, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by whose guidance creatures are guided, and whose intercession is hoped for in this world and the Hereafter, on the Day when a person will look at what his hands have sent forth." So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You honor his abode, ennoble his final state, and cause him to attain his goal and pleasure on the Day of Resurrection, and grant him abundant peace forever. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise prepared for the God-fearing." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise prepared for the certain in faith." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise adorned for the righteous and the humble." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise granted to the repentant and the purified." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise brought near for Allah's devoted servants." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise surrounded by the angels brought near." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise built for those who remember Allah much and those who repent from their sins and seek forgiveness." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise opened for the elite who rejoice in meeting their Lord and are gladdened." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And it is that of which our Lord said: "The parable of the Paradise which the God-fearing are promised: beneath it rivers flow, its fruit is everlasting, and its shade" ¹⁶⁰. And it is the Garden of witnessing the lights of the Essence, beneath it flow rivers of the secrets of the Attributes, its fruit—which is the fruits of the trees of gnosis and spiritual knowledge of those who are detached from temporal things—is everlasting, and its shade, as if they behold it without veil, and they frolic in the shades of its manifestation without hardship or reproach, and they pluck its fruits without scrutiny or reckoning. And those are the stations of the people of longing and yearning.

That is to say, what lies between his noble grave—upon which the showers of mercies pour down and from which the breezes of spiritual gifts emanate—and his pulpit, which is the locus of blessings and felicity, the place where petitions and hopes are answered, is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, which God has prepared as a dwelling for the possessors of high ranks and stations, and an abode for the people of abundant virtues and miracles. And my pulpit is upon my Basin ¹⁶¹—that is, from which flow the streams of gifts and reinforcements upon the people of spiritual ranks and nearness, and of bestowed secrets and the breaking of habits. And upon my Basin there are vessels as numerous as the stars of heaven, which have witnessed their proofs for God's Oneness and attributes of perfection, and for His Messenger's universal intercession and perfection of prophecies and messages. My community drinks from it with the fullest cup; whoever drinks from it a drink that suffices him for the pleasures of the worldly life will never thirst thereafter, for it flows from the springs that God has granted to His beloved and chosen ones. "On the Day when the earth will be changed to another earth and the heavens" ¹⁶². And if you wish, you may say concerning the meaning of his saying: "What is between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise"—that is, the Garden of Gnoses ¹⁶³, for the people of gnoses have gardens in which they delight and frolic, and they roam in its lush meadows; they are the Garden of Love, the Garden of Nearness, the Garden of Union, the Garden of Intimacy with God and Seclusion, the Garden of Spiritual Struggle, the Garden of Witnessing, the Garden of Conversation and Speech, the Garden of Delegation, Contentment, and Submission, the Garden of Knowledge and Verification, the Garden of Inspiration and Success, and the Garden of Faith in all the rulings and affirmations brought by our master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace. And if you wish, you may say: "And my pulpit is upon my Basin—I am the Basin that is visited by my community, the Veil that exists for the people of my love, the Fountain sought by those who act according to my Book and my Sunnah, the Extended Shade for those who follow me and die upon my innate disposition, the Praised Station for my beloved and the companions of my presence, the Raised Banner for those whom God has honored with my service and singled out with my regard, the Witnessed Place for those whom God has drawn to my precinct and caused to die in my soil, the Fulfiller of Covenants for those for whom I have written the decree of salvation and granted security in the sanctuary of my sanctity, and the Treasury of Generosity and Bounty for those to whom I have entrusted the keys of my secrets and whom I have appointed in the domain of my kingdom. So blessed is the one who drinks from my Basin from my community, for he has entered the protection of my religion, and I have looked upon him with the eye of my mercy. And blessed is the one who visits me and circumambulates my Ka'ba ¹⁶⁴, and seeks refuge in my illuminated shrine and seeks blessing from my chamber. For the entire cosmos is under my authority and dominion; Paradise and Hell are beneath my feet, and their reins are in my grasp. No one can escape my obedience, nor can anyone dispense with my intercession. Whoever deviates from my Sunnah and opposes the rulings of my Law, I close the doors of my felicity in his face, deprive him of the pleasure of my intimate conversation, and prevent him from entering my Paradise." This is my shrine and my garden, like my Basin and my Kawthar ¹⁶⁵; my pulpit is above my Paradise, and for my sake the sanctuary appeared. My garden is Paradise, adorned between my grave and my pulpit. The garden of lovers is what is between my grave and my pulpit. The garden of the fearful is what is between my grave and my pulpit. The watering-place of the gnostics is what is between my grave and my pulpit. The tryst of the yearning is what is between my grave and my pulpit. The repose of the blamers is what is between my grave and my pulpit. The delight of the beholders is what is between my grave and my pulpit. The sanctuary of the fearful is what is between my grave and my pulpit. The breeze of those who inhale is what is between my grave and my pulpit. Nothing like my fragrance in my garden, the scent of musk and ambergris. I am the sweetest of beings, and in the world there is none but my sugar. I shall increase in rank before my Lord on the Day of Gathering. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who said: "What is between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And I am the Garden in which the Truth, glorified be He, manifests Himself to His righteous servants. And my pulpit is upon my Basin, and I am the Pulpit upon which the souls of the prophets, messengers, and acting scholars preach. And the Basin from which the foremost of devout servants and the attained poles drink. And upon my Basin there are vessels as numerous as the people of divine receptions and inspirations, unveilings and determinations, stations, ecstatic utterances and attractions, the masters of miracles and clear signs and wonders, the pegs and stakes ¹⁶⁶, and the people of indications and true discernment and marks. My community drinks from it; whoever drinks from it a drink will not recover from his intoxication for the duration of his life, his remaining, and his ascent in the ranks of sainthood and his elevation. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who watches over You in secret and whispered prayer, Your chosen one who ascends the ladders of particularity, piety, and righteousness, and Your prophet who said: "What is between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And I am the lush garden for those who fear the station of their Lord and restrain the soul from desire, the guarantor and surety of a house in Paradise for those who join my side and take refuge, the perpetual bliss for those who abide by what He has set for them and renounce selfish interests and pretensions, the most secure refuge for those who patiently endure what their Lord has decreed for them and run under the currents of destinies, abandoning complaint, and the most magnificent sanctuary for those who seek protection in my guardianship and seek deliverance from temporal calamities and overwhelming afflictions and trials, and the straightest path for those who believe in me and follow my Sunnah and attain in my love the lofty station and the ultimate goal, and the true witness for whom my Lord swore in His clear Book, saying: "By the star when it falls, your companion has not strayed nor erred, nor does he speak from desire; it is but a revelation revealed, taught by the One of mighty power" ¹⁶⁷. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, named the Possessor of the Staff and the Turban, Your chosen one singled out for the Great Intercession on the Day of Regret and Remorse, and Your prophet who said: "What is between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Supreme Garden to which creatures repair and find rest in its courtyards on the Day of Resurrection." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved.

O pure of substance and structure, and Your chosen one ¹⁶⁸ of exquisite expression and meaning, and Your Prophet who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And I am the flourishing garden for whoever desires to inhale the fragrant breezes of divine mercies from the presences of the holy Names and the most beautiful Attributes. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, blessed in visitation and sufficiency, and Your chosen one whose bridal chambers are sanctified in the station of "two bow-lengths or nearer" ¹⁶⁹. And Your Prophet who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And I am the sublime garden for whoever desires to ascend the degrees of proximity and nearness, and to dwell in the station of supreme honor. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, noble in fathers and sons, and Your chosen one, radiant with kohl-lined eyes and aquiline nose. And Your Prophet who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And I am the garden that guarantees for whoever visits me the sweetest drink and the most pleasant life. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, spacious in courtyard and forecourt, and Your chosen one, whose tongue is protected from uttering obscenity, falsehood, and indecency. And Your Prophet who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the garden abundant in fertility, with goodly fruits to be plucked." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose rising is heralded with blessing, fortune, and happiness, and Your chosen one, whose tongue is engaged in gratitude, praise, and commendation to You. And Your Prophet who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, the lofty garden; whoever visits me attains the goal and the fulfillment of wishes." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, exalted in station and structure, and Your chosen one, who by his glance relieves yearning hearts from the malady of passionate love and wasting illness. And Your Prophet who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the garden that gathers together scattered beauties and lights of radiance and brilliance." So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we become among those who have drawn near to his noble presence and approached, and have taken the subtle blessings upon him as our emblem, custom, and habit, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the garden rich for whoever desires, then to enter Paradise, the giver of glad tidings, the Arab, and the breezes of the harbingers of blessing and good news." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the garden rich for whoever desires to pluck the flowers of my prophetic secrets, the Musfuriyya ¹⁷⁰, and the ways of my lordly openings, and the coming victory." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the garden rich for whoever desires the fruits of desirous affections and the means of approximation on the bright day and the radiant night." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the garden rich for whoever desires to open the treasures of hearts with the keys of my holy, omnipotent lights and the freshness of my green modality." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the garden rich for whoever desires to delight in the gardens of my fierce spiritual exercises, the similar and the like, and to adorn himself with the beauties of my attributes and the beauty of my red ruby." So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing that benefits us in this world and the next, and fills our pages with abundant reward and recompense, and makes it for us a provision that we find upon coming to You as a treasure and store, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ◆ Do not blame, in hearts, my bewildered heart ◆ Every heart that loves the Beloved is enraptured ◆ Carrying passion in the heart is not easy ◆ Excuse those who, in their love, have become distraught ◆ The mountains cannot bear my cracking ◆ From infatuation and the secret within me, I am bewildered ◆ And a beautiful, sweet-hearted one ◆ With coquetry, and that to me is most fitting ◆ He is a sun, and in hearts he dwells ◆ In the stations, he used to worship his Lord ◆ The Master of the Messengers, the most generous guide ◆ Tomorrow, the Possessor of Majesty will honor his party ◆ For him the crescent moon split in the sky ◆ Allah made clear in the heavens its division ◆ And Medina shone with congratulations ◆ When it became the abode of the Beloved and his soil ◆ And over the Throne it excelled, and all ◆ Existences, when time embraced his body ◆ And thus, between a pulpit and a grave ◆ Is a holy garden from the eternal Gardens ◆ Allah honored the regions through the Beloved ◆ And by it the Dominant One raised his mention ◆ If his body is hidden from eyes ◆ His secret is not absent, and he persists in striking it ◆ So understand the symbol by the evidence, succeed ◆ In plucking the flower of adorned sciences.

Indeed, this Prophet is alive in his grave ¹⁷¹, worshipped is God like the living, transcendent. No act of worship escaped him throughout time, in the meadows of witnessing ¹⁷², a spirit transcendent. And likewise, the body in its soil is fresh, so it resembles flowers and fragrant breezes. The redness of his cheeks does not wither, no, but they are like silver that is gilded. And likewise, the noble smile in the tomb continues to emit radiant light. Every attribute of the living remains in the interior for the resurrection, God renews its fruit. And upon him and his family be a thousand salutations, and upon the Companions and the Followers ¹⁷³ who are guided. A fresh flower, a Muhammadan Ahmadine station ¹⁷⁴, an eternal perpetual glory, a flowing secret of spiritual support ¹⁷⁵, a clear Ahmadine light, a strong everlasting aid. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose spirit, when it contemplated the beauty of its lofty station and the excellences of its form submissive and obedient to God, and looked at what was created for its sake and honored by its virtue—the wonders of existent things and the marvels of the exquisite craftsmanship—its speaker said in the tongue of the state ¹⁷⁶, indicating what corresponds to it in state and outcome, and suits it in the stations of proximity and connection, and feels its specificity with the pleasure of its Lord, Possessor of Might and Majesty, and translated in the tongue of speech ¹⁷⁷ what dispels illusions and removes the darkness of doubt and probability, saying: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise that encompasses the Throne and the Footstool ¹⁷⁸, the Tablet and the Pen ¹⁷⁹, the entire cosmos, the desired sight, the secret of the ultimate goal, and what our Lord decreed in His pre-eternity. How mighty is the truth of my prophethood and message, and how noble are the manifest signs of His favor and grace, as witnessed by His words: 'Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous' ¹⁸⁰." So the Garden is his vision, and forgiveness is his pleasure and his dealing. That is because God Most High explained the creation and their inclination toward the inclination of souls, so He called them to His obedience and manifested to them the two causes: forgiveness and the Garden. And He addressed the knowers ¹⁸¹ in the language of ambiguity ¹⁸² and called them to the essence of union ¹⁸³, and addressed those who have attained ¹⁸⁴ with the light of derivation ¹⁸⁵, and settled them in the sanctuary of the union of unions ¹⁸⁶, and addressed the deeply rooted ¹⁸⁷ with the subtleties of affection and entreaty, and pointed to them with proofs of demonstration and certainty, saying: "Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God" ¹⁸⁸. This verse indicates the means ¹⁸⁹, and the means from God to Him is the Messenger: whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God through the means of the Messenger. This is the station of command and servitude through the means of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace. And the inner meaning of this verse is an indication to the essence of union, where his attributes, may God bless him and grant him peace, are subsumed under the attribute of pre-eternity, and his creation perishes in the creation of the Eternal, and he emerges from under annihilation to the attribute of subsistence, and becomes from the mirror of the Truth ¹⁹⁰ manifesting to creation. So when it is thus, his command and obedience are one with God's command and obedience, due to his being described and united. Concerning this, one of the knowers said: "Whoever knows you through messengership and prophethood has known me through lordship and divinity." End quote. So the Truth Most High manifests to the knowers through his mediation, may God bless him and grant him peace, due to their annihilation in the lexicon of knowledge and reality, and their immersion in the sea of His love, whose secret permeates every atom and minute particle, and every soul that was destined for happiness on the day of "Am I not" ¹⁹¹, so for them in the ascents of reaching Him is a path and a way. "There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; grievous to him is your suffering; anxious over you; to the believers, kind and merciful" ¹⁹². O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose heart, when the sea of prophethood overflowed, and he saw what his Lord had singled him out for of His sainthood and proximity, and honored his station with His generosity and love, and what He gave him of the keys of His gardens and the treasuries of His unseen, said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise in which the souls of lovers roam and take rest, and the eyes of the beloved delight in its gardens, and on their faces shine the lights of my belovedness and appear, and in its courtyards wafts the musk of my beautiful love and diffuses." So glory be to Him who called the lovers to hasten to the garden of His beloved, vast in expanse and extent, and commanded them to hurry to it and enter through its open door, and poured upon them the sea of His abundant generosity and granted favor, and drew them with the reins of guidance to the carpet of His presence, and singled them out.

by the vision of His face and the perfection of His gaze. And He purified them in His radiant sight and the beauty of His splendor. And He granted them success to act according to the requirements of His Book and His Sunnah. So they sailed in the seas of his Muhammadan knowledge ¹⁹³, and were guided by his guidance, and were adorned with his character and the excellence of his Ahmadan ¹⁹⁴ conduct, and they said: 'We entered a sea at whose shore the prophets stood and did not enter its depths and the waves of its surge.' And He made Gabriel the Trustworthy the servant of his state, and Michael and Israfil the bearers of the canopy of his glory and the banner of his might. And the cherubim angels ¹⁹⁵ are engaged in his remembrance and cling to the rope of his love. And the heavenly and earthly breaths, and the luminous and dark forms ¹⁹⁶ seek his intercession and enter under his authority and the carpet of his mercy. So no one is independent of his mediation, nor can anyone escape his command and obedience. For without the intermediary, as it is said, the intermediary would be lost. So he manifested the proof of his argument over all the prophets and messengers, and through him clarified the landmarks of his law and the paths of his way. (94) And he alluded to this in symbols that he concealed, and symbols that he made clear, and symbols that he mentioned in his Mighty Book, and obscured them from others and incorporated them into the meaning of the secret of his concise word. And symbols that he specified for him, and his tongue spoke with their wisdom, and he explained their secrets to his community. So he said: 'Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise.' So all the gardens are manifestations of the radiance of his lights and treasuries of the gifts of his secrets, and assemblies for the fragrant breezes of his remembrances, and mosques for his worship and the fulfillment of his desires. So may Allah bless him and his family with a blessing by which we become among those upon whom Allah has bestowed the favor of His proximity, and He takes them in his illuminated precincts, so they are buried in his honored soil and the shade of his wall. By Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ✦ O my companion, you have attained your wish, so rejoice ✦ And you have drawn near to the house of the purest Messenger ✦ And the landmarks of Tayyiba ¹⁹⁷ have appeared to you, so listen ✦ To its descriptions from a truthful informer ✦ He guides you to the secure sanctuary, whose fragrance is from ✦ The Gate of Peace ¹⁹⁸, enter it without impatience ✦ And concerning blessings upon the Prophet, greeting ✦ Whenever you approach his house, do not slacken ✦ And know that if you stand praying ✦ Between the garden of my Master and the pulpit ✦ In a garden from Paradise, moving about ✦ Its earth is in a pure and purified place ✦ There envelops you from the breaths of your Lord a mercy ✦ You will attain it in this world and on the Day of Gathering ✦ So you are between them, certainly standing ✦ Between the Garden of Eden and al-Kawthar ¹⁹⁹ (95) ✦ So when you stand before the face of His Prophet ✦ He greets you with the greatest contentment from Him There, the inner sight, if purified, will behold the origin of beauty appearing in the greatest manifestation. So you see all the worlds, with their beauty and majesty, present in the most holy presence. The origin of existence and the source of generosity, which encompassed all manifestations in every age. The light of God, by which His servants are illuminated in this world and the next, of the most radiant life. The praised one of all creation, Ahmad ²⁰⁰ the praiser, and Muhammad ²⁰¹ in the most renowned station of praise. May Allah bless him with the best of His blessings, and his family and companions, the most noble company. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master and lord Muhammad, Your beloved from whose light the worlds were formed, and Your chosen one whose arrival made what is Yours rejoice, so he smiled, and Ridwan ²⁰², the keeper of the gardens. And Paradise was manifested to him in the wall of his great chamber of immense worth and status. So he said: 'Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise that Allah created from the purity of His light, and He traced my form with the hand of His power, and appointed me for prophethood and messengership in the precedence of His eternity, and He called creation to His saying: "Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous who fear their Lord in secret and in public."' O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master and lord Muhammad (96), Your beloved, abundant in goodness and bounty, and Your chosen one, the guardian of his community from the abysses of perdition and ruin, who said: 'Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise that Allah made a stepping-stone for the people of His love, and a dwelling for the people of His affection, and a garden encompassing the souls of the blessed, and a lush orchard in which the birds of the truthful and martyrs roam. And my pulpit is over my Basin ²⁰³, and my Basin is a journey of two months in width, and upon it are vessels like the number of the stars of the sky. Whoever drinks from it from my community a drink will never thirst again. And I am the Basin from which whoever drinks a drink attains goodness and follows a right path. And whoever rejoices in its watering-places (will be honored near Allah) and his time becomes pleasant and wholesome, and his life a life of abundance.' O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master and lord Muhammad, the tongue of the preacher and orators, and the model of the eloquent and literati, who said:

The people have never smelled musk or ambergris ²⁰⁴ like the soil of Ahmad ²⁰⁵, the Guide, the Trustworthy. Oh, how noble is Ahmad as an intercessor, a guarantor, a surety for our salvation! He settled the believers in the fortress of religion, and from him we have a refuge in a strong fort. The Messenger of God, Ahmad, who brought us the best guidance in the best of centuries ²⁰⁶. Through him, in the two sanctuaries ²⁰⁷, a station and a life were made lawful for the pilgrims and the residents. And how could Mecca and Medina be pleasant without the best of creation? By God, in the Gardens of Eden ²⁰⁸, the believers incline to the maidens ²⁰⁹. The intercession of Ahmad, by the life of Taha ²¹⁰, tomorrow on the day of crowding, take care of me (99). The care of Ahmad—I have been anointed with the face of the Beloved, the Chosen One—do not abandon me. The love of Ahmad guided my heart alive; the love of Ahmad, the Guide, encompass me. Upon you be the prayer of the Merciful, the Compassionate, and upon your family and the Companions at all times. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the most fragrant garden of beauties, and the brightest star of prophethood and messengership, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most radiant face is brighter than the moon, Venus, and the planet Jupiter when his most famous star shines. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the master of masters and freemen, the dear one of family, companions, and neighbors, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of the highest Paradise, and the composition of his prophetic collarbones is higher than the month, honey, the melody of passion, and the composition of odes and poems." O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the lamp of lights, the builder of villages and cities, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit (100) is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most desirable face is more delightful than the handling of cups in Paradise, the plucking of the lute and flute, and the sound of strings. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the elite of the pure, the model of the righteous, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most luminous face is better than Paradise and what it contains of meadows, pools, and the chirping of birds on pulpits of trees. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the opening of remembrances, the spring of secrets, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most exalted face is more precious than Paradise and what it contains of jewelry, garments, necklaces of emerald and gold, and precious stones. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the foremost of ages, the master of the Emigrants and Helpers, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most verdant face is more adorned than (101) Paradise and what it contains of gardens, basins, cups, ewers, lush shades, and the shimmering of flowers. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the essence of noble lineage, pure in branch and origin, the pearl of the shell, lofty in glory and pride, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most radiant face is nobler than the shining full moons, the brilliant star, and the splendor of suns and moons. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the treasure of storage, the mine of generosity and pride, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most moonlike face is more sublime than the breaking of dawn and its spread over all directions and regions. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the pole of sovereignty, lofty in rank and worth, the cloud of goodness, the pouring rain, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." (102) And his most dazzling face is more beautiful than Paradise and what it contains of pearls, rubies, pure gold, and red sulfur. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the imam of expert scholars, the light of insight for those of vision and discernment, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." And his most luminous face is more beautiful than Paradise and what it contains of chambers, palaces, couches, crowns, canopies, and the sweet-lipped maidens of the pavilions and the brides of virgins. So bless him, O God, and his noble, excellent family, and his noble, free Companions, a blessing that will rescue us from the mire of self-direction and choice, and make us among those who are pleased with Your decree and submit to the flow of destinies, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Stop at the stirrups, for this is the abode and the house; the lights of the beloved have shone upon us. Good news, good news! Their domes have appeared; so descend, for you have attained what you desire and choose. This is the pebbled ground, this is the tented valley of Mina; these are their dwellings, this is the house. These are the domes of Quba, the traces of their homeland; and this is the trunk, so weep; this is the cave. This is the Prophet of the Hijaz, to whom the reports testified of his precedence among the messengers (103). This is the noble one through whom Mudar gained supremacy; this is he whose soil is like fragrant musk.

This is the intercessor whose intercession is hoped for sinners when the fire blackens. Hasten and greet the lights of his garden before death, so let no excuses distract you. If the eye does not see his soil, alas, and you do not visit him, then longing is a visitor. O people of Taybah, I have a moon in your abode; his kindness commands good deeds. O best of messengers, O highest of creation in honor, sins and burdens have weighed down the back. So be my intercessor for the slips and faults I have committed, for the Lord is Forgiving. May the God of the Throne bless you as long as doves coo and flowers bloom in the garden. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the branch of the most flourishing tree of glory, the bearer of the most renowned banner of praise, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the greatest Paradise, so blessed is he who loves me, follows me, and delights his eyes in the splendor of the divisions of lights." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the possessor of the yellow staff, the mule, the swift camel, and the red camel ²¹¹, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the supreme Paradise, so blessed is he who believes in me, affirms my prophethood and message, and whoever prays upon me, Allah will give him when he sees me—and I do not delay—abundant reward and the greatest pleasure." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the possessor of the fullest portion and the most radiant perfect secret, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the delightful Paradise, so blessed is he who comes to me as a visitor, prostrates his forehead in my soil, and kisses the edge of my luminous carpet." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the possessor of the Basin and the Abundance, the honored prayer niche and the pulpit, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the adorned Paradise, so blessed, then blessed is he who delights in my emigration and the pleasure of my eye in the gardens of my purest shrine." So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which we inhale the fragrant breezes of his musk, and by which You grant us enjoyment of his proximity in the Abode of Bliss and the vision of his moon-like face, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ²¹² ❖ O eye of this great master, ❖ So witness in the sanctuary of the Chosen One. ❖ O eye, this is what you were seeking, ❖ This is the station of the Chosen Ahmad. ❖ And what worry in it does not clear away? ❖ The stars of the horizon wished that they ❖ Were lamps shining in it. ❖ Nothing was more pleasing to my soul than if it became ❖ A resting place in it for whoever passes by. ❖ Every station whose rank has risen ❖ In this presence is considered small. ❖ It combines excellence and generosity, ❖ And bounty, lordship, and pride. ❖ To its soil, saffron is attributed, ❖ And from its fragrance, musk and ambergris. ❖ The Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary envied it, ❖ When it contained the celestial sphere and the luminous. ❖ The radiant Kaaba and the sacred site, ❖ The Black Stone, the curtains, and the ritual place. ❖ So rejoice, O my eye, at the meeting, ❖ For whoever tends to the beloved rejoices. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the support of the arriving poles and the wine of the bewildered lovers, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit ²¹³ is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise that dwells in lovers, the desire of the yearning individuals, and the goal of visiting the masters of passing states." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the ornament of the attracted wayfarers and the model of the ascetic worshippers, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and I am the Paradise that is the delight of the eyes of beholders." So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which we become among Your servants who supplicate humbly before You, the submissive, the lowly, lowering their wings to the servants of Allah, the humble, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ❖ O soul, you have attained your wish, so rejoice and ask, ❖ This is the Beloved, and this is the Master of the Messengers. ❖ This is the one whose love filled my heart, ❖ This is the one for whom eyes stayed awake. ❖ This is the one I loved and attained, ❖ O my joy, continue, O my joy, continue. ❖ This is the one for whose longing people abandoned ❖ Family, companions, children, and ruins. ❖ This is the one who guided us to guidance and religion, ❖ To a faith whose law is exalted above other creeds. ❖ This is the one who will intercede for us on the Day of Presentation, ❖ When we seek his help from intense fear. ❖ This is the one whose garden between his pulpit ❖ And his grave is from the gardens of eternity, never ceasing. ❖ O Master of the Messengers, O you who attained a rank ❖ Supreme, far beyond likeness and example. ❖ O Pearl of the Prophets, O Garden of the Scholars, ❖ O Refuge of the Strangers, O Master of the Messengers. ❖ May the God of the Throne, our Creator, bless you ❖ At night, dawn, morning, and evening. O Allah, I ask You, O my Master, by the sanctity of these gardens ²¹⁴ that heal, through their secrets, the disease of sick bodies and ailing hearts, concerning which our master, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise"—with blooming flowers, flowing streams, and basins—and that You draw me to the garden of Your beloved, our master Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which is the most noble of places with You and the best of gardens, and that You take my soul, when I die, in his illuminated land, abundant in radiance and whiteness. And that You expand my chest for Your obedience, illuminate my heart with the lights of Your knowledge, and comfort me with You in my state of loneliness and withdrawal. And that You make me hear, O Allah, the address of Your essential speech, send down upon my heart the jewels of Your holy revelation, shine upon my inner being the lights of Your manifestations, and pour upon my secret the overflowing sea of Your generosity, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ❖ May Allah water the environs of Taybah with the spring rain ❖ And irrigate the hills of those fresh gardens.

Sights whose dust Allah is pleased to be wiped, And in them is lifted the burden from every bearer. A land where the Hashimite ²¹⁵ has vestiges, Whose goodness returns to us from those vestiges. O visitor of the beloved Muhammad's spirit, By my soul and my family, from beloved and visitor. When your eyes see the garden of Ahmad ²¹⁶, Then boast of the gardens of eternity in it and take pride. And kiss the soil of that beloved, greeting, The best of those buried in the best of graves. Peace, if counted by sand and pebbles, And green plants of the desert and falling rain, Multiplied by its tens and hundreds, And added to seventy thousand and more. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad, and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved of abundant grace and favor, Your chosen one who stands for You in obligatory and supererogatory acts, Your prophet who strove for Your religion with arrows, judgments, and spears, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad, and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the unique second, Your chosen one adorned with jewels of wisdom and subtle sciences and meanings, Your prophet distinguished by the Mighty Qur'an and the Seven Oft-Repeated ²¹⁷, who said: "Whoever performs Hajj to this House and does not visit me has indeed been harsh to me." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad, and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved who is the light of hearts and their edification, Your chosen one who is the splendor of radiant faces and their freshness, Your intimate friend who is the precursor of eternal happiness and its glad tiding, who said: "Medina is my grave, and in it is my house and my soil, and it is incumbent upon every Muslim to visit it." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad, and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved distinguished by nearness to You and closeness, Your chosen one of abundant fortune in Your love and portion, Your saint who inherits the secrets of Your unseen sciences by obligation and inheritance, from whose visit's merits is that when a Bedouin stood at his grave and said, "O Allah, You have commanded the freeing of slaves at the graves of beloved ones, and this is the grave of Your beloved, and I am Your slave, so free me at the grave of Your beloved from the Fire," a caller called out to him, "Why did you not ask for freedom for all creatures so that we might free them at the head of this beloved? Go, for We have freed you from the heat of blazing fire and the blaze of flame." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad, and to the family of our master Muhammad, the means of the repentant and the seekers of forgiveness, the tongue of those who persist in Your remembrance and the seekers of aid, the succor of the distressed, and those who seek refuge in You and the victorious, from whose visit's merits is that when Hatim al-Asamm ²¹⁸ stood at his grave and said, "O Lord, we have visited the grave of Your prophet, so do not send us back disappointed," it was called out, "O this one, We did not permit you to visit the grave of Our beloved until We accepted you. Return, you and those with you, with pardon and forgiveness, rejoicing." Section: O Allah, bless him and his family, the noble and pure, and his companions, the venerable and honored, a blessing by which You admit us into his protective shade and his fortified fortress, and honor us by visiting his illuminated tomb and his station surrounded by glad tidings of blessing, happiness, and clear victory, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. I have left praising the worlds and have clung, from the praises of the best of creation, to the firmest handhold. I will make it my cave, my fortress, and my refuge, that perhaps by praises I may deserve freedom. And I will sing with it in every gathering, repeating, exchanging in my sorrow and my griefs with the doves. And I will inhale the breezes from a fragrant breeze that blows, so it wafts to me a scent and perfumes me with fragrance. The visit of one who has become a refuge and a shelter, and the soil of one who in glory has won the race. We kiss with the fancies of minds its soil, in its distance, while longing agitates us with yearning. When a lightning flashes from the direction of Taybah ²¹⁹, we almost, from longing, embrace the lightning. Our bodies in the west embrace sorrow, so no life is pure, nor tear dries. If obstacles cut me off from reaching his grave, wounding me with their arrows shot, I have nothing around but tears and sorrow, perhaps the helper of the race may grant me attainment. My master, O Messenger of Allah, since destinies prevented me from reaching you and standing before you, and I had no power to visit your noble tomb and your lofty, exalted station, while your love and yearnings have filled the corners of my thought, and your passion and longing have filled the space of my chest, and I have been overtaken by regret for the distance of your visit, yearning for your soil, and longing for your neighborhood, which has lodged in my innermost parts a flame and in my limbs a tremor, I have made for your verdant garden a model, and for its form an image in the heart and a likeness, and I have drawn it here, hoping that this may be a means to attain the goal, and to console the thoughts of lovers by looking at its beauties in veneration and exaltation, and that what is drawn on the margins of its pages may be fulfillment of covenants and perfection. So by it, O intercessor of creatures, I seek intercession, and by its side I seek mediation to you, and on the Day when the Resurrection stands and the caller calls, remember me, O Messenger of Allah, in that great standing, and accept me, and do not turn me away from your watered basin and your magnificent sanctuary, for I am a hostage to sins and offenses, and a captive of liabilities and crimes. O Allah, make him intercede for me, O my Master, by his rank with You, and make him for me in this world and the Hereafter a secure fortress and an impregnable stronghold, and cause me to die upon his creed, believing, obedient to Your command and his, hearing and obeying, and grant me the favor of visiting his noble grave and his illuminated chamber before the arrival of the term quickly. Indeed, You are over all things competent, and worthy of response. And there is no power nor strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Almighty. And I have placed before it a model of the Sacred House of Allah, and His Ka'bah ²²⁰ which is the direction of following and completion, and the place of veneration, piety, and respect, because it has been reported that one hundred and twenty mercies from the mercies of the Lord of Majesty and Honor descend upon it every day and night: sixty for the circumambulators, forty for the worshippers, and twenty for those who look at it over the passage of nights and days. And if this Ka'bah, lofty in rank and station, has been distinguished with these great merits, for his sake (upon him be the best of blessings and purest peace), then what of his garden which contains his essence, abundant in veneration and exaltation? So do not ask about what is poured upon it from the showers of mercies over the passage of months and years. So it behooves one whose body has not been there to dwell with his spirit in its courtyard, seeking fragrance and following the example of the noble angels, as has been narrated from Ka'b al-Ahbar ²²¹ (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "No dawn breaks except that seventy thousand of the mighty angels descend until they surround with their wings and send blessings upon the Master of Mankind. Then when evening comes, they ascend, and seventy thousand descend until they surround the grave, beating their wings and sending blessings upon him—seventy thousand by night and seventy thousand by day—until when the earth splits open for him, he emerges with seventy thousand angels, glorifying him, magnifying him, and honoring him with the utmost honor."

So bless him, O Allah, and his family, with a blessing by which You honor us with the visitation of his noble and exalted garden ²²² and station. And by it, gather us in his pure burial place with his companions, the stars of emulation and the full moons of perfection, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ❖ O best of Allah's creation, Mecca was honored ❖ And Taybah ²²³ when you became the adornment of both ❖ You alighted with guidance in a valley, then a valley ❖ With guidance, so both valleys became fragrant ❖ Mecca has the virtue of beginning and end, his virtue ❖ For Taybah, so both are complete, O lover, see them ❖ And pass with this a period, then a period ❖ With this, and seek no place other than them ❖ And do not prefer other than the two mosques ²²⁴, even if ❖ Necessarily, Jerusalem was their brother ❖ For none other than them do the mounts set out to, nor ❖ Do they rival them in glory, a rivalry And this is the description of the Sacred House of Allah and His Kaaba ²²⁵, which is the qibla ²²⁶ of Islam, and the place of circumambulation for pilgrims and those performing 'umra ²²⁷ and the noble angels, and the honored garden ²²² that contained his radiant and upright essence and his two companions, Abu Bakr and 'Umar ²²⁸—upon him and them the best of prayers and purest peace. My purpose in this is to console the heart of the ardent, yearning, and passionate lover, and to aid those who have not seen this with their own eyes in visualizing it in their hearts, for when a person hears something, he wishes to visualize it in his mind and tongue, but that is not sufficient, since news is not like direct sight. So I made these depictions an aid to minds and a comfort to the heart of the loving, bewildered, and perplexed devotee. So whoever sees these depictions and similar ones, like the noble graves found in the book of the author of Dala'il al-Khayrat ²²⁹ and others of this station, should venerate them, honor them, wipe them, kiss them, and place them on the head and eyes. For the depicted object acquires honor from the depicted subject, and thus it has sanctity because of it at all times and seasons. ❖ Allah is greatest, love when its magnification ❖ Shone guidance and its lights appeared to us ❖ The landmarks of Yathrib ²³⁰ and its dwellings appeared ❖ The abode of the Messenger, his home and his settlement ❖ This is the palm trees and Taybah ²²³ and Muhammad ❖ The best of all creation, and here I am his neighbor ❖ This is the place of prayer and al-Baqi' ²³¹, and here ❖ The quarter of the Beloved, and here are his traces ❖ Guide, his sacred dwellings which ❖ Gabriel repeated between them ❖ Guide, the places of descent of revelation, whose ❖ Lines cure hearts from blindness ❖ Guide, the footsteps of the best who trod the earth ❖ And rose above the seven heavens in his settlement He filled existence with the reality of his radiance ❖ So his night and day shone from it And the fragrant garden ²²² blew its breeze ❖ And the willow appeared and its trunk completed And Sal' ²³² became fragrant, so ask about its perfume ❖ Why would it not be fragrant when around it is the Chosen One? Glad tidings to you, O my heart, for you have attained your wish ❖ And reached what you desire and choose The union you hoped for has become possible ❖ And likewise, my love, its secrets have become possible I had a burning before the meeting ❖ But now seeing him has doubled my burning Be gentle a little, O my tears, stop ❖ For tears transgress the bounds of love The noble ruins are beyond ❖ Needing a flood to flow over their soil ²³³ Would he who visits the Beloved be lost, when he sees ❖ That the visited one has visitors at his door? Would he who seeks the Generous be disappointed, when he has ❖ Good hope as his emblem and garment? Is there at your door a place for one who stumbles to repent ❖ So that he is turned away from you and his stumble is not forgiven? Far be it, no, that a worker should be disappointed ❖ And return empty-handed, disappointed, his journeys O Master of the Messengers, my back is burdened ❖ So perhaps by your rank my loads will be lightened Have mercy on one whose sins have destroyed him ❖ So that his advance seems like retreat He wore humility while his burden was great ❖ And forgiveness makes his burdens small The visitation place is far, and there is no visitation, and how evil ❖ Is what a lover meets when his visitation place is far from you He has come to your sanctuary, fleeing from his slips ❖ And to you, O best of mankind, is his flight He has come to you seeking intercession and hope ❖ Leading him, and his tears are his helpers And the servant is apologetic, humble, submissive ❖ And deficient, whose life has been prolonged He is pleading, his sins have drowned him ❖ He is disavowing, his fire has burned him His homelands have cast him into exile ❖ And his aspirations have thrown him to your heights So bestow, forgive, pardon, overlook, and absolve ❖ For You alone are the eraser of sins, the Forgiver May Allah bless you as long as the rain revives ❖ The meadows of the hills and the birds warble ²³⁴ Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His greatest pleasure, His generosity, His beneficence, and His greetings—the peace of a lover whose tears have flowed, whose embers of longing have blazed, and whose sighs have followed. Prayer and peace be upon you, O Muhammad the Arab Prayer and peace be upon you, O Muhammad the Qurayshi ²³⁵ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Muhammad the Meccan Prayer and peace be upon you, O Muhammad the Medinan Prayer and peace be upon you, O Muhammad the Tihami ²³⁶ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Muhammad the Najdi ²³⁷ Prayer and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah Prayer and peace be upon you, O Prophet of Allah Prayer and peace be upon you, O Beloved of Allah Prayer and peace be upon you, O Chosen of Allah Prayer and peace be upon you, O Confidant of Allah Prayer and peace be upon you, O Intimate Friend of Allah ²³⁸ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Interlocutor of Allah ²³⁹ Prayer and peace be upon you, O our master Muhammad son of 'Abdullah Prayer and peace be upon you, O Master of the Two Worlds ²⁴⁰ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Spirit of the Two Weighty Ones ²⁴¹ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Light of the Black of the Eyes ²⁴² Prayer and peace be upon you, O Grandfather of al-Hasan and al-Husayn ²⁴³ Prayer and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah Prayer and peace be upon you, O Father of the Pure, the Radiant, the Virgin ²⁴⁴ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Manifest of Origins and Divisions ²⁴⁵ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Possessor of the Pulpit and the Ascension ²⁴⁶ Prayer and peace be upon you, O Possessor of the Crown and the Diadem ²⁴⁷ Prayer and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah. And upon your family, your wives, and your offspring.

and your companions, your supporters, your in-laws, and your family. May Allah reward you on our behalf, on your own behalf, and on behalf of all the prophets with goodness. Peace be upon the messengers, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O master of the messengers ²⁴⁸. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O leader of the white-blazed ones ²⁴⁹. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O imam of Allah's noble servants. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O crown of the guardian angels ²⁵⁰. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O master of all creation. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O majestic in names and attributes. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O brilliant in miracles and wonders. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O clear in proofs and signs. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O great in virtues and honors. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O he for whom pebbles glorified in his palm ²⁵¹. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O he for whom the staff sprouted leaves in his hand instantly ²⁵². May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O he whose blessings cannot be counted or enumerated. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O he whose excellences cannot be limited or exhausted. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O pure in character. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O noble in qualities. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O pole of beauty ²⁵³. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O adornment of the companions and family. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O imam of the people of speciality and perfection. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O orator of the presence of the Possessor of Might and Majesty. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O master of masters. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O pillar of reliance. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O desire of the people of longing and love. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O imam of the ascetics and worshippers. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O center of the circle of the solitary ones and the pegs ²⁵⁴. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O means of the people of litanies and daily prayers. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O model of the people of earnestness and striving. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O ultimate goal and final aim. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine manifests the connection of the merciful. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine elevates the rank of the doers of good. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine rectifies the beliefs of the certain. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine purifies the deeds of the humble. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine perfects the asceticism of the reliant. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine brings near the union of the beloved. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine removes the distress of the afflicted. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose visitation to his shrine erases the crimes of the sinners. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O trustee of Allah. The cheated is he who shuns you and does not follow your path to Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O gift of Allah. Whoever obeys you has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys you has disobeyed Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O party of Allah. Whoever comes to your door seeking intercession through your rank, Allah accepts him. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O protection of Allah. Whoever seeks refuge in your sanctuary, Allah grants him security. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O handle of Allah. Whoever sets down his saddle at your door, Allah saves him. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O safeguard of Allah. Whoever enters your sacred precinct in fear, Allah protects him. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O blessing of Allah. Whoever clings to your hem and seeks refuge in your presence attains your intercession with Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O mercy of Allah. We have sought intercession through your rank to be among the accepted and pleased ones with Allah. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah. The lovers from your community stand at your door, hoping for forgiveness of their sins and concealment of their faults on the day when a person looks at what his hands have sent forth. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O Prophet of mercy. Blessings whose measure none but Allah can estimate. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O high of aspiration. Blessings whose reality none but Allah knows. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O faithful to the covenant. Blessings whose reward none but Allah can qualify. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O remover of distress. Blessings whose secret none but Allah knows. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon you, O treasure of wisdom. Blessings whose extent none but Allah can limit.

The blessings of Allah and His peace be upon you, O Master of Graces ²⁵⁵. Blessings whose number none can count but Allah. The blessings of Allah and His peace be upon you, O Intercessor of the Nations ²⁵⁶. For you are our succor, our aid, our refuge, and our sanctuary. We have come to you, and in love for you we have forsaken all else. So succor us, O my master, O saint of Allah. For Allah Almighty said in what He revealed to you: "And if, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you and asked forgiveness of Allah, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Accepting of repentance and Merciful." ²⁵⁷ And here I am, I have wronged myself greatly, and through my ignorance and heedlessness I have committed a grave matter. I have come to you as a visitor, seeking forgiveness for my sin, asking you to intercede for me with my Lord, for you are the intercessor of sinners, the merciful to the disobedient and the despairing. So intercede for us with the Supreme Lord, O our master and lord, Muhammad son of Abdullah. (128) May Allah bless you, your family, your wives, your companions, and your descendants. O Allah, grant his intercession for us, O our Lord, by his rank with You. O Allah, this is Your sacred precinct ²⁵⁸ which You declared sacred by the tongue of Your Prophet and Messenger, our master Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. So by its blessing, forbid our bodies to the Fire, and grant us security from Your punishment on the Day You raise Your servants. Provide us with the happiness, goodness, and blessings that You have granted to Your righteous saints and Your chosen beloved ones. O Mighty, O Forbearing, O Generous, O Forgiving, O Oft-Forgiving. Make us firm with the firm word ²⁵⁹ in this abode and in the next. Forgive us what we have done and what we have delayed, what we have concealed and what we have revealed, and what You know better than us. Do not take us to task for the evil we have earned, O Most Generous of the generous, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Kaaba of grace ²⁶⁰, O You to whom my tear ever flows and my innermost responds; and in whom a heart that loves Him is stripped bare, so ecstasy leads it and longing drives it. In the gardens of my humility burns the fire of blazing flame, which separation casts into the embers of my heart. It fears no injustice for a heart that You own, for the house has a Lord who will protect it. And a heart in which You dwell never forgets You, and the master of the house knows best what is in it. May the Lord of the Throne bless you as long as rain clouds pour and their torrents flow (129), and as long as lovers sing in the sands of Hijaz ²⁶¹ while the caravan driver urges them on. And I yearn to visit illuminated places, sacred sites, and dwellings, honored domes, beacons, minarets, and candles, mosques of great merit prepared for those who stand, prostrate, and bow, shining lamps, and censers of incense whose fragrance wafts over the processions of visitors and spreads. And breezes of mercy and answered prayer heard, and supplication and entreaty before a venerated, honored, and exalted Prophet. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which our roots and branches may be set right, and by which You bestow upon us the visitation of his tomb ²⁶², whose love lies hidden in the depths and ribs, so that by seeing his station my ailing body and pained sick frame may be healed, and my terrified thought and fearful, anxious heart may find security in standing before him. And grant abundant and exalted peace. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. (130) The virtue of visiting the tomb of the Chosen One ²⁶³, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation illuminates the insights of the knowers ²⁶⁴. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation gives security to the hearts of the fearful. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation sweetens the states of the wayfarers ²⁶⁵. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation purifies the worship of the devout. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation heals the burning thirst of the yearning ones. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation delights the intoxication of the ascetics ²⁶⁶. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation calms the terror of the perplexed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad (131) and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation extinguishes the assault of the oppressors. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation raises high the beacon of the travelers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation fulfills the hope of the visitors. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation bequeaths the stations of those who have attained union ²⁶⁷. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation strengthens the certainty of the perfect ones. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation increases the deeds of the workers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation manifests the merit of the obscure. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, whose tomb's visitation quenches the hearts of the thirsty. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad (132), Your beloved.

He whose visitation of his tomb ²⁶⁸ comforts the loneliness of the desolate. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb expands the breasts of those who are cut off. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb elevates the means of the supplicants. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb facilitates the intercession of those seeking intercession. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb gathers the resolve of the humble. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb whitens the faces of those who are affiliated. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb multiplies the reward of those who seek recompense. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb strengthens the faith of the patient. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (133) Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb refines the morals of those who remember. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb increases the praise of the thankful. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb makes firm the feet of the firmly rooted. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb awakens the thoughts of the heedless. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb raises the ranks of the lowly. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb revives the souls of the perishing. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb polishes the mirror of those who turn away. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb answers the prayer of those who call. (134) O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb improves the intention of the content. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb purifies the innermost secrets of the repentant. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb perfects the desire of those who yearn. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb fulfills the needs of the needy. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb delivers the hopes of those who hope. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb unites the souls of those who love one another. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb makes the souls of those who are estranged love. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (135) Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb elevates the rank of the God-fearing. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He whose visitation of his tomb bequeaths righteousness in this world and the religion. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that through it You enter us into his fortified fortress and his secure sanctuary. And make us through it among those who hold fast to his firmest handhold and cling to his strong rope, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. And when we headed for the grave of the most noble messenger, and the light of divine care shone and became clear for us, And the secret of the spirit was hidden in his dominion, so he became apart from the worlds in what a place of isolation, And he became apart from the encompassing assembly with a rank that is exalted by the secret of the Essence beyond the description of a station, I presented to him what I desired, and he said to me, with the tongue of the manifestation of the Truth from me, in speech, Responding to what I had hoped for from his gift: "We have heard and we give you beyond what is hoped for." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He from whose etiquette of visiting his tomb is that the visitor should touch his noble wall but not kiss it. And he should not circumambulate his illuminated tomb; rather, that is disliked for him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (136) Your beloved, He from whose etiquette of visiting his tomb is that the visitor should not press his belly and back against his wall, Nor wipe it with his hand, as some scholars have warned against that, saying it is an innovation. Likewise, he is warned against bowing to him when greeting him, as it is outside of practice and contrary to following. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, He from whose etiquette of visiting his tomb is that the visitor should stand for the visit at a distance, for that is more fitting for the loftiness of his magnificent rank. And he should walk in his city barefoot, as some of the great ones did, honoring the places where his noble feet trod.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, from whose visitation etiquette it is that the visitor place the carpet of his mosque, which is trodden by feet, upon his head and neck, and that he anoint the pupil of his eyes with the blessed dust of his earth. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, from whose visitation etiquette it is that the visitor rectify his repentance and improve his intention in that presence, and rub the honored parts of his gray hair and the sides of his cheeks in the dust of those precincts. (137) So bless him, O Allah, and his noble, excellent family, and his venerable, pivotal Companions, a blessing by which we become among those who are sincere to Allah and turn in repentance, who seek forgiveness for their sins and repent, and who seek intercession through his rank to die in the service of those thresholds, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ❖ Glad tidings to you, O heart, this is the master of nations ❖ And this is the presence of the Chosen One in the Sanctuary ❖ The Messenger of Allah, the highest of people in rank ❖ And the most generous and the most spacious in courtyard ❖ He who chose the means of ascent in high stations ❖ And who was given the means and the banner ❖ Intercessor of sinners, lessen my stumbling ❖ For You are the best of those who hear the call ❖ I called You after my sins became great ❖ And life was wasted, so answer the prayer ❖ And who is there for me to visit You after distance ❖ In the morning, O Muhammad, or in the evening ❖ And to touch a soil that exudes fragrance ❖ And to look at it when it is filled with light ❖ And though I persist in sins ❖ Be for the ailment of my sin a cure ❖ And grant me from You in both worlds favor ❖ And give me to drink from the Pool to quench my thirst ❖ May Allah reward you with all good ❖ And increase you, O son of Amina, in glory ❖ Upon you be the blessings of your Lord as long as breezes blow ❖ From the sea, a gentle wind or calm ❖ And may greetings never cease to greet ❖ Your noble, pious Companions And among the etiquettes of visiting his exalted and magnificent shrine (138) is standing at his noble door and conversing with him closely with modesty, dignity, tranquility, reverence, and veneration, along with his family and companions who are regarded with the eye of lordship and honor, and with the belief that they are alive, knowing those who enter and those who leave. It is narrated from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that she used to uncover her head covering when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was alone in that station, but when others were present, she would always cover herself, may Allah be pleased with them all. Among the finest words I have heard on this matter is what is narrated from the preacher of al-Khalil ²⁶⁹, peace be upon him, in his mosque opposite his grave in his sermon: "O Allah, bless Muhammad as You blessed Your friend Abraham," pointing to his grave in front of him on the western side of the mosque in its center, and the words of the preacher of Medina: "O Allah, bless Muhammad, Your Prophet, this one," pointing to him while he was on the eastern side of the pulpit, "as You blessed Abraham." And Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Tanisi reported, saying: When we arrived with Shaykh Abu al-Fadl al-Jawhari at Medina and approached the mountain pass, we saw the dome and its radiant light shining upon us, connected to the sky at midday, surpassing the light of suns and moons. Abu al-Fadl dismounted from his camel and recited: "And when we saw the trace of one who left us no heart for recognizing traces, nor intellect, we dismounted from our mounts, walking in honor of one from whom it is far that we should come to him with a riding beast." And we walked until we reached the mosque, while Shaykh Abu al-Fadl was reciting these verses: (139) "I said to my heart when the trace of their abode appeared to my eye, stirring my longing: This is their abode, and you are a lover; why is the tear held back in the eyes? The dwellings have meanings for the lover; they call to the falls of lovers. Untie the knot of tears and loosen its ties, abandon patience and fulfill the right of separation." And it is narrated that among the etiquettes of visitation is that when the visitor approaches Medina or the House, he should dismount, as Abu al-Fadl al-Jawhari did, for when he came to Medina, he dismounted and began to say: "The veil was lifted for us, and a moon appeared to my sight that transcends all imaginations. And when our mounts brought us to Muhammad, their backs become forbidden to men. They brought us near to the best of those who trod the earth, so they have a sanctity and a covenant upon us." And among the etiquettes of visitation is also that when the visitor reaches his shrine, peace and blessings be upon him, he experiences such veneration, awe, reverence, respect, and honor that cannot be expressed by tongue, measured by limit, or written by fingers. And when he sits before him, he becomes still and calm, as if birds were perched on his head, for his sanctity, peace and blessings be upon him, after death is like his sanctity in life. And showing proper conduct before him, in his mosque and his city, is the foundation of virtues and the key to blessings, because in those places the heart expands, burdens are lifted, reward and recompense are multiplied, and the deeds of goodness and piety are increased. So how great (140) is the attainment of that station! And how noble are the virtues of those nights and days! Nights during which one's life should be spent, and the assemblies of glory and pride should be adorned with their remembrance, and through their blessing, victory, support, and triumph are sought. And since I have not reached these illuminated, beautiful, noble sites, with their noble soil, people, and inhabitants, and their dear clans, relatives, and neighbors, nor have I observed their locations by sight and eye, I have drawn a likeness of their holy garden and his blessed prophetic chamber, following in that the path of the righteous predecessors among the acting scholars, and those after them from the successors of the knowing saints and the perfect who have attained union, so that I may gain the blessing of his Ahmadic ²⁷⁰ grace, inhale the fragrance of the breezes of his Muhammadan ²⁷¹ effusions, delight my sight in its beauties with love and longing, and continue to gaze upon it and console myself with it through vision, state, and taste, and address those who dwell there with the address of a yearning, enraptured lover, to cool thereby the burning pangs of passion and love, and to draw down the gifts of the mercy of the Master of Mankind. So I multiply at that time blessings and peace upon him, as if I were present before him, standing with proper conduct in his presence. So bless him, O Allah, and his family (141) with a blessing befitting You from You to him, and grant abundant peace forever. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. ❖ Glad tidings to you, O heart, this is the master of nations ❖ And this is the presence of the Chosen One in eternity ❖ And this is the radiant garden manifest ❖ And this is the green dome like a banner ❖ And the pulpit of the Chosen Guide, and his chambers ❖ And his Companions, and al-Baqi' ²⁷² surrounding them ❖ So be joyful and free from worries you used to know ❖ And ask, and you will attain all you hope for from generosity ❖ O my master, O Messenger of Allah, take my hand ❖ For the servant is a guest, and the guest of Allah is not neglected

O my master, O Messenger of Allah, take my hand, for the pool of your bounty is accessible to every thirsty one. O my master, O Messenger of Allah, take my hand, O you who grants security from calamities to those who seek him. O master of the messengers, O you whose courtyard is a sanctuary, a house of safety, goodness, and blessings. O most noble of creation, whether barefoot or shod, O best of people in essence and character. O most noble of prophets, O you whose intercession encompasses all beings, both existent and non-existent. I am in need of pardon and mercy, and you know best the pain within my heart. I have come to you hoping for your generosity, and you are worthy of contentment, O master of nations. My state suffices for complaint to you, for you know my condition even if I do not speak it with my mouth. Upon you be the most pure blessings of Allah as long as a star rises and the light of lightning flashes from Idam. Description of the noble garden ²⁷³. This is the description of the garden of lofty rank and station, observed with the eye of veneration and respect—upon its inhabitant be the best of prayers and purest peace. The light of the Beloved shines over Medina, and from it a fragrance of perfume diffuses. Blessed is he who dwells in Taybah ²⁷⁴, inhaling the scent of his breath. O how beautiful is Taybah when it is illuminated by his light, and by the light of Muhammad's face it becomes radiant. The noble Throne ²⁷⁵ boasts in majesty of its proximity to him, and that is certain. His courtyards are honored by Muhammad's essence, so they excel over all existence, waving. Through him they attained a great virtue that has no limit, which none who speaks can express. The house of the Beloved and the rising place of the light from which the worlds yearn for a glance. He honored time and place with his face, and by the evidence of his beauty's pattern they cling. He is the best of those who trod the earth with his sandals, the most noble of those who walk gently, and he is the foremost. When he turns toward a land, his light precedes like his fragrance to the noble essence. Fragrant scents remain at his passing, wafting on the path for a time. It is said: "Here is the Beloved, the Chosen One; these are his fragrances that cannot be matched." May Allah bless him as long as the east wind blows and a branch with blooming flowers sways. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and sets down his baggage at his door, he is safe on the Day of the Great Terror from Allah's wrath and punishment. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and rubs himself with its dust, Allah heals him from his apparent and hidden ailments and gives him to drink of his delicious drink. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and rubs his gray hair in its spacious courtyards, Allah purifies his heart from soulful distractions and inspires him to the path of goodness and rightness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and stands at its thresholds, Allah forgives his sins and places him in the near station in the abode of His recompense and reward. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and sits before him, his love increases and faith grows in his heart until he prefers that sitting over himself, his wealth, his family, his child, and his parents. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and turns to him with his heart and body, his secret ²⁷⁶ penetrates the unseen of his identity and becomes dearer to him than the pupil of his eye and the light of his eyesight. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and directs his whole being toward him, his trust strengthens and his hope is perfected in the good things he desires and seeks from him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave and sacrifices himself and his wealth for his pleasure, Allah regards him with the eye of His care and protects him in his movements, stillness, and all his times. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave, which is abundant in secret, blessing, and goodness, and sits facing his illuminated face with a sitting of reverence and respect, lowering his head in modesty, veneration, and awe, as if birds were perched on his head, he attains what he hopes from his proximity and benefits from his love and affection. His sanctity becomes for him, even in death, like his sanctity in life, for proper conduct before him, in his mosque, and in his city is the key to every virtue, obedience, and goodness. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that makes easy for us the path of reaching him and journeying, and through his blessing removes from us every misery, harm, and injury, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, such that when a visitor visits his grave, which is distinguished by honor, blessing, and happiness, guidance settles in his heart and his limbs become active in devotion and worship. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved.

He who, when the visitor visits his grave, which is regarded with the eye of honor, pride, and glory, becomes ascetic in the world and its familiar things, and becomes one of the people of trust, piety, and asceticism. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, surrounded by veneration, honor, and sovereignty, is bewildered in the assemblies of his Muhammadan beauty, and his noble love becomes his emblem and habit. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his blessed grave, the beginning and the return, his inner state becomes good, his innermost being is illuminated, and he attains the gifts of secrets and the subtleties of knowledge and benefit. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, adorned with brilliant miracles and the breaking of custom, his outward and inward states are rectified, his innermost secrets are purified from the attachments of planning, choices, and the impurities of will. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and casts before him his reins and submission, You look upon him with the eye of Your mercy and accept his obedience, his pilgrimage, and his struggle. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and his intention and belief are good therein, You fill his heart with Ahmadine love, and he continues throughout his time until he dies, longing for the return. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and asks for his aim and desire, You grant him understanding of good and make piety and righteousness his equipment and provision. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which his honor and love multiply in our hearts, and by which You make us among those whom You have honored with Your pleasure and sealed for them with the best and the two words of testimony. By Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, his face beams with the sight of his station and is illuminated, and he reveals what is in his conscience of burning yearnings, so he casts off restraint and tears the veils. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and witnesses those stations and abodes, his life becomes pleasant, his agitation subsides, and the dwelling and abode become delightful for him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and his eyes fall upon the illuminated chamber, he kisses its soil and the wall, the hardships and dangers he encountered become easy for him, and the sudden worries, griefs, and troubles depart from him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and stands in those stations where the righteous and pious stood, and which the near angels and the chosen elite visited, You expiate his sins, erase his faults and burdens, establish him with the firm word in this life and the Hereafter, and forbid his body to the Fire. So bless him, O Allah, and his noble, pure family, and his righteous, chosen companions, with a blessing that suffices us against the evil of the wicked and the plot of the immoral, and by which You free our necks in this abode and in that abode, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. And when we came to the grave of the most noble messenger, and the light of divine care shone and cleared for us, and the secret of the spirit was hidden in his dominion, so he became from the worlds in what isolation, and he departed from the encompassing assembly with a rank that transcended, by the secret of the Essence, beyond the description of any station. I presented to him what I desired, and he said to me, with the tongue of the manifestation of Truth from me, in speech, answering what I hoped from his gift: 'We have heard and we give you beyond what you hoped.' O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, the nightingales of his joys become singing, and the results of his words and deeds become beneficial. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, the stars of his happiness rise, and the gleams of his secrets and lights shine. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, his assemblies become encompassing all kinds of good, and the hearts of the lovers are eager for what he has. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, the lights of love shine on his face, and the proofs of his arguments are decisive for the people of denial and obstinacy. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, the ears of the yearning ones become hearing the beauty of his speech, and the witnesses of his evidences proclaim the truth. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave, the traces of his generosities become widespread in the worlds, and the reports of his virtues become common and spread on tongues. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that fills our hearts with the gifts of its beneficial knowledge, and quenches our hearts with the downpour of the rains of its encompassing secrets, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and sees what he has of high status and lofty ranks, the paths in his love become clear for him, and from his blessing the seas of secrets and gifts overflow upon him.

The virtue of seeking intercession through his rank ²⁷⁷, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and sees from him the dazzling miracles and virtues, and seeks intercession through his rank to Allah—then his outcomes are made good, and he is protected from the evil of the envious, the slanderer, and the watcher. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and sees what he has of great station and lofty ranks, and seeks intercession through his rank to Allah—then he is safe from calamities, his gains are preserved, and his provisions and earnings become wholesome. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and sees from him kindness to the distant and the near ¹⁵⁵—and seeks intercession through his rank to Allah—then causes and objectives become easy for him, and his needs and desires are fulfilled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and sees what he has of noble character and gentleness—and seeks intercession through his rank to Allah—then his aims are fulfilled, and his means and desires are perfected. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and sees the delegations and caravans that come to him—and seeks intercession through his rank to Allah—then he is spared the matter of calamities, and afflictions, disasters, and all misfortunes are repelled from him. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and sees what is opened to the one who comes to him of the secrets of wonders and marvels—and seeks intercession through his rank to Allah—then the drinking places become sweet for him, and the non-Arabs and Arabs love him, and his fragrance spreads in the East and the West. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, the shining stars, and his Companions who strove for his Muhammadan Sunnah ²⁷⁸ with spears and swords, a blessing by which our faces are delighted in gatherings and offices, and by which our ranks are raised ¹⁵⁶ in assemblies and processions, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. And when we came to a spring, and there appeared to us abodes wherein the shade of joy was extended, we alighted there, the best of blessings, in delight, and it was pleasant as we choose and desire, and security, blessing, joy, and pleasure, by which the time of the lover flows, praiseworthy. And the pools surrounded us from every side amidst palm trees whose fruit clusters are heavy. And the earth had a brocade-like embroidery, as I see, from the palms, branches there swaying. And the breeze of longing swayed us with the east wind, telling us of Ahmad ²⁷⁹ and repeating, and informing us of his abode and his station, and a grave around which kings are servants. The angels seek refuge with it, hoping for happiness; indeed, whoever comes to the happy one is happy. He is the greatest favor, he is the blessing for which the gratitude of mankind falls short and perishes. He is the overflowing fountain of bounty and generosity, and after him there is no increase in resources. For without him, we would not exist, nor would any being exist, nor would there be a promise between us and a threat. He is the unique jewel whose glory is tied by the light of manifestation ²⁸⁰ and witnessing, unique. He is the firmest handhold, he is the proof which a witness from him confirms. Upon him be Allah's blessing, then His peace, and upon his family and Companions, as long as a seeker comes. End. ¹⁵⁷ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and the sweat of his Muhammadan essence and the fragrant breezes of his Mustafawi ²⁸¹ prophetic nature become dry—then his breaths become fragrant thereby, his spirit revives, and he says: "This, by Allah, is the believer's share in this world and the Hereafter, and his portion of divine gifts ²⁸² and Mawlawi ²⁸³ secrets." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave, which protects from the heat of blazing fire and its flames, and wipes his blessed garment on his forehead—then his yearning soul calms from its weeping and wailing, and quiets from the heat of its sighs and palpitations, and he says: "This, by Allah, is the knower ²⁸⁴ whom the elite follow in purifying their souls and disciplining them, and in refining them from human follies and educating them." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave, whose corners and expanses are illuminated, whose station and presence are magnified—then his terror and agitation subside, and he praises the time of his ecstasy and ardor, and says: "This, by Allah, is the beloved's aspiration and his drink." His ecstatic utterance ²⁸⁵, his passion, his infatuation, his sobriety, his nearness ¹⁵⁸ and proximity, his silence and speech, his address and response, his fame and obscurity, his concealment and veil, his death and life, his scroll and book, his knowledge and etiquette, his might and honor, and his lineage. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and beholds his lush garden and its abode—then his toil, fatigue, and sorrow depart from him, his trade profits, his provision and wealth increase, and his praise and song delight the mounts of the lovers, and he says: "This, by Allah, is the generous one to whom delegations acknowledge from the sea of his bounty and generosity, and the virtuous follow his conduct and guidance. This is my master and lord, the Messenger of Allah." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and kisses his pure soil and dust—then his anxiety and agitation calm, and what had weakened his body from the pain of longing and wasted him disappears, and his tongue becomes strong in his pure remembrance and praise, and he says: "This, by Allah, is the heart's joy and delight, the lover's mercy and cure, the utmost aim and the limit of his hope. This is my master and lord, the Messenger of Allah." ¹⁵⁹ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and faces his noble body and his life, and praises him with the best of blessings and the purest of greetings and salutes him—then his noble spirit returns to him until he himself returns the greeting and takes care of him, and bestows upon him guidance so that his state and end become good, and he says: "This, by Allah, is the fulfiller of the visitor's hope and expectation, and the giver of what he hopes and expects from His pleasure. This is my master and lord, the Messenger of Allah." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who—when a visitor visits his grave and seeks the downpour of his abundant generosity and his mercies, and seeks the gifts of his secrets and the abundant favors—then his secret penetrates into his secret and his private counsel, and he attains what he loves of the perfection of his desire and his passion, and he says: "This, by Allah, is the best of those to whom a person flees in hardships and pours out his complaint, and who relieves him from what has befallen him and cures him from his harm and affliction. This is my master and lord, the Messenger of Allah." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ¹⁶⁰, Your beloved.

He who, when the visitor visits his grave and avails himself of his blessing and contentment, and seeks shelter under his shady shade and his banner, and God grants him success to what He loves and is pleased with, and secures him from the deceit of time and the evil of His decree, and says: 'This, by God, is better than whom God chose for prophethood and messengership and approved and selected for His blessing and preference. This is my master and lord, the Messenger of God.' O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and grasps its lattice ²⁸⁶ and the curtains of his Ka'ba ²⁸⁷, and places his foot in his illuminated precincts and the vicinity of his chamber, enters into his fortified fortress and the sanctuary of his sanctity, and clings to his firmest handhold and the rope of his love, and says: 'This, by God, is the protected sanctuary and the key to the doors of His mercy, and the best one before whose spacious courtyard the saddles are unloaded and who is exposed to the wafts of his generosity and the gifts of his favor. This is my master and lord, the Messenger of God.' The merit of one who wipes himself against the wall of his grave, may God bless him and grant him peace. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his grave and wipes himself against his prophetic wall and inhales its fragrance and the perfume of his soil, and rubs his cheeks in the courtyards of his station and his place, humbles himself in reverence for his might and great awe, and humbles himself desiring his love and perfect service, and says: 'This, by God, is the place of His obedience and the establisher of His Sunnah, and the clarifier of the rites of His religion and the landmarks of His creed, who said: "Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise; whoever settles in it is safe from the calamities of time and its affliction, and from the questioning of the grave and its trial, and from the terror of the great standing and its severity, and attains at his arrival a high mercy and an exalted station in the paradises of His Garden." This is my master and lord, the Messenger of God.' So bless him, O God, and his family with a blessing by which one becomes among those upon whom You have bestowed the visitation of his Muhammadan shrine and witnessed its shining lights and radiance, and entered into his fortified refuge and his mighty shelter and protection, by Your favor and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O hopeful aspirant, may what you hope for bring you joy, this is the Ka'ba of the hopeful and its season. A grave from which I witness light when my eye sees it, and I inhale musk when I kiss it. How many companions have succeeded in visiting it without me, but not every heart-smitten lover is like me. And how many shake his hand who do not see his hand, nor my mouth at kissing the dust is his mouth. When will I call him from near and recite to him a poem about him that his servant has composed? A Muhajirite ²⁸⁸ poem whose beauties boast over the light of pearls that the tongue of the state strings. How many a generous one hopes for the radiant garden, hoping for visitation while his peers deprive him of it, appealing to the Beloved of visitors against a time whose lexicon has become obscure with neglect. So rise for Your servant, O Sun of existence, and be his protection from every calamity whose taste has passed. O master of the Arabs, the strangers, excuse a heart-smitten one whose remorse does not avail. I have burdened my back with sins and come to You with neither a sound heart nor anything to present. O possessor of revelation and scripture, let Your kindness be with me; You continue to forgive the sinner and honor him. Here is the jewel of verses that boast of You, coming to You inscribed with the line of sin. So raise its composer, O my master, and those with him, if the vicissitudes of time intend to destroy him. And make him under Your watchful eye out of mercy, when one who does not have mercy afflicts him. And if he calls, answer him and protect his side, O best of those whose bones are buried in the dust. For whoever You support in both abodes, the trials of days cannot overcome him. Upon you be the most complete blessing of God, O noble one whose favors encompass both abodes, as long as the wind sways the branches of the arák tree ²⁸⁹ and the doves hover over the sandy tract of the gardens. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his shrine and hastens to the spring of Tasnīm ²⁹⁰, the lights of love shine upon his forehead and foretell his piety, respect, and veneration. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his shrine and lets his gaze wander in his most exalted station and the beauty of his adornment, the secrets of guidance shine upon the pages of his face and the forelock of his beloved. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his shrine and drinks from his sweetest source and the Salsabīl ²⁹¹ of his flowing spring, the springs of wisdom gush forth upon his tongue, and he attains what he hopes and expects from all kinds of good from that moment. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his shrine with his love, sincere intention, and perfect certainty, the glad tidings of good and happiness appear upon him, and blessing manifests in what he undertakes for the rectification of his worldly and religious affairs. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his shrine and touches his gilded covering with his right hand, God opens for him the doors of contentment and acceptance, and grants him security in the abode of honor through his vision and designation. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his illuminated precincts and seeks blessing from the places of his feet and his sandals, God brings him near to His presence and pours upon him from the abundance of His generosity and gift. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his illuminated precincts and beholds the landmarks of his traces and ruins, God treats him with all kindness and grants him success in his movements and stillness and all his states. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his illuminated precincts and unloads at his door what has broken his back from the weight of his burdens, what he has left of his family and wealth becomes easy for him, and no one crosses his mind. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, who, when the visitor visits his illuminated precincts and makes them the seal of his deeds, God accepts his pilgrimage and secures him from the trial of the grave and its questioning, its ordeal, its earthquakes, and its terrors. So bless him, O God, and his family with a blessing by which the one who blesses him finds its blessing in his state and wealth, and is preserved by it in his standing and sitting, his residence and travels, by Your favor and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds.

A station ²⁹² wherein reward and divine pleasure are hoped for; whoever has love, that is his abode. Why do the souls of the enraptured not take flight? Why does the skin of love not melt? A station wherein piety and the spirit ²⁹³ manifest to creation; the key to the doors of success and the locus of manifestation. Places that were once the descent of revelation ²⁹⁴, where Gabriel ²⁹⁵ would repeatedly come. The footsteps of the best of messengers ²⁹⁶, through whom the murky darkness of the world was dispelled. So circumambulate that station and a garden ²⁹⁷ that surpasses and boasts over Paradise ²⁹⁸. Do not leave it, for your desire is there; do not exchange it, lest you lose. The station of a Prophet whom God adorned among creation, and through Him He honored and exalted whom He wills. Muhammad, the guided one ²⁹⁹, a mercy to mankind, the pure and chosen secret of existence. A Prophet came when the universe was black and dark, and through him it became radiant and luminous. Upon him be God's blessings as long as rain falls, and a reward and pleasure from God greater [than all]. And his noble Companions ³⁰⁰ who united upon the straight religion of God and strove. Especially Abu Bakr ³⁰¹, the companion of his Prophet, and his associate, who is the great and revered. Also Abu Hafs ³⁰², who was a narrator ³⁰³, dispelling the darkness of your nights and illuminating. O Lord, deprive not Your servants of their request, and convey to him what You have conveyed of choice. He came striving with his innermost, when his steps became difficult, and he is disheveled and dusty. I ask You by the Chosen One, Ahmad ³⁰⁴, indeed he is a sea that overflows with no soul clinging to desires. Upon him be God's blessings, then His peace, and His pleasure, as long as a fragrant garden wafts. And his Companions and family, as long as a shining morning dawns, and the bursting light dispelled the darkness.

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1. al-abrār : The pious, righteous ones; often used for saints and the devout.
2. imdādāt : Spiritual effusions or outpourings of divine grace.
3. ghuyūb : The unseen realms; hidden mysteries known only to God.
4. al-manāsik al-mafrūḍah : The obligatory rites of pilgrimage (Hajj).
5. maqām : Station; here referring to the Prophet's station or rank.
6. takhṭīṭ al-āthār : Delineation of traces; marking of landmarks or monuments.
7. aḥwāl : Spiritual states; conditions of the heart in Sufi terminology.
8. shīḥ : A fragrant desert plant (Artemisia).
9. Sal‘ : A mountain near Medina.
10. Naqā : A sand dune or hill near Medina.
11. al-Waghṣā’ : A low-lying area or valley.
12. falaj : A gap between the teeth, considered a beauty mark.
13. Yathrib : The pre-Islamic name of Medina.
14. Ṭaybah : A name for Medina, meaning 'the good/pure one'.
15. ramal : A poetic meter; also a type of song or chant.
16. al-Muṣṭafā : The Chosen One, a title of the Prophet Muhammad.
17. quṭb : Pole or axis; in Sufism, the highest spiritual authority.
18. dalā'il : Proofs or signs, often referring to spiritual evidences or miracles that indicate the truth of the Prophet's station.
19. al-maqām al-ma'lūm : The known station, referring to the Prophet Muhammad's exalted spiritual rank.
20. bashā'ir wa ashā'ir : Glad tidings and signs; spiritual indications that inspire visitation.
21. asjā' wa qaṣā'id : Rhymes and odes; poetic compositions in praise of the Prophet.
22. al-'ulūm al-ladunniyya : Divine or esoteric sciences; knowledge granted directly by God to saints.
23. rubū' wa ṭulūl : Ruins and remains; abandoned campsites, evoking nostalgia for the beloved's abode.
24. labinat al-tamām : The completing brick; a hadith metaphor for the Prophet as the final brick completing the building of prophethood.
25. al-aṣl wa al-furū' : Origin and branches; referring to the Prophet's pure lineage and his descendants.
26. al-ḥādī : The camel-driver's song; a rhythmic chant used to urge camels forward, here symbolizing spiritual motivation.
27. Ṭāba : An alternative name for Medina, the city of the Prophet.
28. Ma'd wa 'Adnān : Legendary ancestors of the northern Arabs; the Prophet is from their lineage.
29. al-Ḥaṭīm, Zamzam, al-Rukn, al-Maqām : Sacred sites in Mecca: al-Hatim (a semicircular wall near the Kaaba), Zamzam (the well), the Corner (of the Kaaba containing the Black Stone), and the Station of Abraham.
30. al-rawḍ : The garden; refers to the Rawḍa, the area between the Prophet's pulpit and his grave in Medina, considered a garden of Paradise.
31. Riḍwā, Nu'mān, Shāmah, Ṭufayl : Mountains near Medina, often mentioned in poetry for their association with the Prophet.
32. Sal' wa Qubā : Mount Sal' (a hill in Medina) and Quba (a suburb of Medina where the first mosque was built).
33. al-aḥādīth al-qudsiyya : Sacred hadith; sayings of God narrated by the Prophet, distinct from the Quran.
34. shaykh : A spiritual guide or elder in Sufism.
35. arāk : A type of tree (Salvadora persica) whose twigs are used as a toothbrush (miswak).
36. idhkhir : A fragrant grass (Cymbopogon schoenanthus) mentioned in Islamic tradition.
37. jalīl : A type of plant, possibly a kind of rush or reed.
38. Furqān : One of the names of the Quran, meaning 'the Criterion'.
39. ḍāll : A type of tree or plant, possibly a kind of tamarisk.
40. salam : A type of tree, possibly a kind of acacia.
41. muṣallā : A place of prayer; here referring to the Prophet's prayer place.
42. sarḥ : A type of tree, possibly a kind of palm.
43. ghaḍā : A type of tree, possibly a kind of tamarisk.
44. khayr : A type of tree, possibly a kind of acacia.
45. yāsamīn : Jasmine flower.
46. nisrīn : A type of fragrant flower, possibly wild rose or eglantine.
47. uqḥuwān : A type of fragrant flower, possibly chamomile or marjoram.
48. Iḍam : A place near Medina, mentioned in poetry.
49. Qibā : A place near Medina, site of the Quba Mosque.
50. Ṭaybah : One of the names of Medina, meaning 'the good'.
51. Muḍar : A tribe of Quraysh, the Prophet's lineage.
52. Kawthar : A river in Paradise, also a name of a Quranic chapter.
53. al-mi'rāj : The Ascension; refers to the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to heaven.
54. wārid al-'ishq : The influx of divine love; a Sufi term for a spiritual state of intense love.
55. al-sabbāq : The Forerunner; an attribute of Allah meaning the One who precedes all in grace.
56. iktiḥāl : Application of kohl; metaphorically, a remedy for the eye of the lover.
57. tashuddu ilayhi al-riḥāl : A phrase indicating that journeys are made to visit the Prophet's mosque in Medina.
58. Dhī Salam : A place near Medina, often mentioned in love poetry for the Prophet.
59. Sala' : A mountain in Medina.
60. Alban : A place in Medina.
61. al-'Aqīq : A valley near Medina.
62. al-Ḥamā : A place in Medina.
63. al-'Udhayb : A place near Medina.
64. Bāriq : A place in Medina.
65. al-Baqī' : The cemetery in Medina where many Companions are buried.
66. al-Munḥanā : A place in Medina.
67. al-Rawḥā' : A place near Medina.
68. al-Ḥujūr : The chambers of the Prophet's wives; also a place in Mecca.
69. Ṭābah : Another name for Medina.
70. rawḍatihi al-musharrafah : The honored garden; refers to the area between the Prophet's grave and pulpit in Medina.
71. qibla : Direction of prayer; here used metaphorically for the beloved.
72. Kināna : A tribe in Arabia; the Prophet Muhammad belonged to the Quraysh, a sub-tribe of Kinana.
73. maqām : Station; spiritual rank or the physical location of the Prophet's tomb.
74. ḍarīḥ : Shrine; the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.
75. qāḍā' al-ḥawā'ij : Fulfillment of needs; a phrase indicating the shrine's role in answering prayers.
76. ashrafu biqāʿi llāhi ʿalā sh-shumūli wa l-iṭlāq : The most noble of God's places absolutely and universally; referring to the Prophet's shrine.
77. qibla : Direction of prayer; here metaphorically meaning the focal point of devotion.
78. Ṭayyiba : A name for Medina, meaning 'the good/pure city'.
79. Abī l-Jaʿd : A place name; possibly a region or town, indicating the servant's physical location.
80. ʿarūs al-amlāk al-maḥmūl : Bride of the angels carried; a poetic epithet for the Prophet Muhammad.
81. jāh : Intercession or high standing; here referring to the Prophet's power to intercede with God on behalf of believers.
82. al-su’āl : The questioning in the grave by the angels Munkar and Nakir about one's faith.
83. al-ḥashr : The gathering of all creatures for judgment on the Day of Resurrection.
84. al-ṣirāṭ : The bridge over Hell that all must cross on Judgment Day; the righteous pass easily, the sinful fall.
85. al-mīzān : The balance or scale that weighs deeds on the Day of Judgment.
86. al-‘urwa al-wuthqā : The firmest handhold; a Qur'anic term (2:256) referring to the covenant of faith or the Prophet's intercession.
87. al-fatḥ : Spiritual opening or victory; in Sufism, the unveiling of divine mysteries or assistance from God.
88. yadan : Literally 'a hand'; here meaning a means or a claim of favor or intercession with God.
89. al-mawājid al-ilāhiyya : Divine ecstasies or spiritual states; in Sufism, intense experiences of divine love and presence.
90. ḍarīḥ : The tomb or shrine of a saint, especially the Prophet Muhammad's tomb in Medina.
91. al-ḥujra al-sharīfa : The noble chamber; the room in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina where he is buried.
92. salsabīl : A spring in Paradise mentioned in the Qur'an (76:18); here used metaphorically for the Prophet's spiritual fountain.
93. Najd : A region in central Arabia; often associated with the birthplace of the Prophet and pre-Islamic poetry.
94. al-‘Aqīq : A valley near Medina, famous for its beauty and mentioned in classical Arabic poetry.
95. Ṭayyiba : One of the names of Medina, meaning 'the good/pure city'.
96. Abū al-Ja‘d : A place or person; possibly a reference to a location or a nickname. Unclear; may be a poetic license.
97. al-jahābidha al-a‘lām : Eminent scholars or experts; literally 'the brilliant ones' in Islamic sciences.
98. sayyāḥīn : Wandering or traveling angels; those who roam the earth to convey greetings to the Prophet.
99. kamālāt al-Muḥammadiyya : Muhammadan perfections: the spiritual and moral excellences of the Prophet Muhammad.
100. maqām : Station: a spiritual rank or location associated with the Prophet, often referring to his grave or his spiritual presence.
101. ḍarīḥ : Tomb: specifically the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.
102. Kawthar : A river in Paradise promised to the Prophet Muhammad, mentioned in the Quran (108:1).
103. Tasnīm : A spring in Paradise, mentioned in the Quran (83:27-28), from which the righteous drink.
104. tawassul : Seeking intercession: a practice of asking Allah through the mediation of a prophet or saint.
105. misk al-khitām : The musk of sealing: a fragrant substance used to seal letters, symbolizing the finality and excellence of the Prophet.
106. yawm al-ʿarḍ wa al-zihām : The Day of Presentation and Crowding: the Day of Judgment when all beings are presented before Allah and crowded together.
107. ḥūr al-ʿīn : Wide-eyed houris: beautiful maidens of Paradise described in the Quran.
108. al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr : The Much-Frequented House: a celestial counterpart of the Kaaba in Paradise, visited by angels.
109. aḥādīth Muḥammadiyya : Muhammadan hadiths: sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.
110. عِنَايَتُهُ فِي أَزَلِ الْأَزَلِ سَابِقَةٌ : Refers to God's eternal care for the Prophet Muhammad, pre-existing before all creation.
111. الْمُلْكِ وَالْمَلَكُوتِ : Al-Mulk and al-Malakut: the visible and invisible realms; the kingdom of the physical world and the spiritual dominion.
112. آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ : The family of our master Muhammad, including his descendants and close companions.
113. أَرْجَائِهِ : Its sides or precincts, referring to the areas around the Prophet's station or shrine.
114. آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ : The family of our master Muhammad, including his descendants and close companions.
115. ḍarīḥ : The tomb or shrine of the Prophet Muhammad, often used in Sufi and devotional contexts to refer to his burial place in Medina.
116. safīr : Envoy or messenger; here referring to the Prophet Muhammad as the one who conveys divine guidance.
117. maqām : Station or rank; in Sufi terminology, a spiritual station attained through devotion. Here it refers to the Prophet's exalted spiritual station.
118. bashīr : Bearer of good news; a title of the Prophet Muhammad as one who announces glad tidings.
119. khabīr : Knower or expert; here referring to the Prophet's comprehensive knowledge.
120. ẓahīr : Supporter or helper; a title of the Prophet as one who aids the oppressed.
121. nadhīr : Warner; a title of the Prophet as one who warns against sin.
122. zawrā' : The visited one; a reference to the Prophet's mosque in Medina, often visited by pilgrims.
123. al-Mukhtār : The Chosen One; a title of the Prophet Muhammad.
124. mazār : Shrine or place of visitation; often used for the Prophet's tomb.
125. ḥaram : Sanctuary; the sacred precincts of the Prophet's mosque in Medina.
126. between the grave and the pulpit : A reference to a hadith that the area between the Prophet's grave and his pulpit is one of the gardens of Paradise.
127. rawḍa : Garden; specifically the area between the Prophet's tomb and his pulpit in Medina, considered a garden of Paradise.
128. Ra'ūf Raḥīm : Two of Allah's names meaning 'Kind, Compassionate' and 'Merciful', often paired in the Quran.
129. tawājada : A Sufi term for ecstatic spiritual experience or intense emotional state during remembrance of the beloved.
130. Ṣāḥib al-Liwā' wa al-Tāj wa al-'Imāma wa al-Qaḍīb : Titles of the Prophet Muhammad: Master of the Banner (of praise), the Crown, the Turban, and the Staff (symbols of authority and honor).
131. Quran 23:14 : Quranic verse: 'So blessed be Allah, the best of creators.'
132. Qur'an 9:128 : Quranic verse describing the Prophet's compassion.
133. Hadith : Prophetic tradition: 'Whoever visits me seeking reward, I will be an intercessor for him on the Day of Resurrection.'
134. Hadith : Prophetic tradition: 'Whoever visits me after my death is as if he visited me during my life.'
135. Hadith : Prophetic tradition: 'Whoever dies in one of the two sanctuaries (Mecca or Medina), Allah will raise him on the Day of Resurrection among the secure.'
136. Hadith : Prophetic tradition: 'Whoever dies in one of the two sanctuaries as a pilgrim for Hajj or Umra, Allah will raise him on the Day of Resurrection with no account and no punishment.'
137. Hadith : Prophetic tradition: 'Al-Madina is the dome of Islam, the abode of faith, the land of emigration, and the source of rulings on the lawful and unlawful.'
138. Hadith : Prophetic tradition: 'Whoever among you can die in al-Madina, let him die there, for I will intercede for whoever dies there on the Day of Resurrection.'
139. Sharia : Islamic divine law derived from the Quran and Sunnah.
140. Sacred Mosque : Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, the holiest mosque in Islam.
141. Umra : The lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, which can be performed at any time of the year.
142. 'anam : A type of fragrant plant or flower.
143. idhkhir : A fragrant grass (Cymbopogon schoenanthus) found in Arabia.
144. Sal', Quba, al-'Aqiq, al-Ban : Place names in or near Medina.
145. the Beloved : Referring to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
146. two lava fields : The harra (volcanic black rock) areas surrounding Medina.
147. Dajjal : The Antichrist figure in Islamic eschatology.
148. Ka'ba : The sacred cube-shaped building in Mecca, direction of prayer for Muslims.
149. Throne : The Throne of Allah (al-'Arsh), the greatest creation.
150. Footstool : The Footstool of Allah (al-Kursi), mentioned in the Quran.
151. sunna : Recommended practice of the Prophet Muhammad.
152. two sanctuaries : Mecca and Medina, the two holy cities.
153. Tayba : One of the names of Medina, meaning 'good' or 'pleasant'.
154. Dajjal : The Antichrist figure in Islamic eschatology, a false messiah who will appear before the Day of Judgment.
155. between the grave and the pulpit : Refers to the area in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina between his grave and his pulpit, which he said is a garden from the gardens of Paradise.
156. Criterion : Al-Furqan, a name for the Quran, meaning the criterion between right and wrong.
157. his : Refers to the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
158. his brilliant star : Metaphor for the Prophet Muhammad, likened to a shining star.
159. Night Journey : Al-Isra' wa al-Mi'raj, the Prophet's miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and ascension to the heavens.
160. The parable of the Paradise... : Quran 13:35, a verse describing Paradise.
161. al-ḥawḍ : The Basin (Hawḍ) of the Prophet Muhammad, a celestial pool from which the faithful will drink on the Day of Resurrection before entering Paradise.
162. Qur'an 14:48 : Qur'anic verse referring to the transformation of the earth and heavens on the Day of Judgment.
163. jannat al-maʿārif : The Garden of Gnoses, a spiritual paradise for those who possess direct knowledge (maʿrifa) of God.
164. Kaʿba : The Kaaba in Mecca, here used metaphorically for the Prophet's shrine as a focal point of spiritual circumambulation.
165. al-Kawthar : A river or basin in Paradise granted to the Prophet Muhammad, symbolizing abundant spiritual blessings.
166. al-awtād : Spiritual 'pegs' or 'stakes' in Sufi hierarchy, referring to saints who sustain the world through their spiritual station.
167. Qur'an 53:1-5 : Qur'anic verses affirming the Prophet's divine guidance and speech.
168. ṣafiyy : Chosen one, intimate friend; a term for a close, purified servant of God, often used for prophets.
169. qāba qawsayn aw adnā : Quranic phrase (53:9) referring to the Prophet Muhammad's proximity to God during the Mi'raj (Ascension), meaning 'two bow-lengths or nearer'.
170. al-Masfūriyya : A term possibly referring to a specific collection or type of prophetic secrets; unclear, may be a proper name or a descriptor.
171. ḥayy bi-qabr : The belief that the Prophet Muhammad is alive in his grave, a common Sufi and traditional Islamic concept.
172. riyāḍ al-shuhūd : Meadows of witnessing; a Sufi term for spiritual states of direct contemplation of divine realities.
173. al-ṣaḥāba wa al-tābiʿūn : The Companions of the Prophet and the Followers (the next generation).
174. maqām muḥammadī aḥmadī : Muhammadan Ahmadine station; a Sufi concept referring to the spiritual rank of the Prophet Muhammad, with 'Ahmad' being another name of the Prophet.
175. sirr sārī madadī : A flowing secret of spiritual support; a Sufi term for the hidden divine assistance flowing through the Prophet.
176. lisān al-ḥāl : Tongue of the state; a Sufi concept where one's spiritual state speaks without words.
177. lisān al-maqāl : Tongue of speech; verbal expression as opposed to silent state.
178. al-ʿarsh wa al-kursī : The Throne and the Footstool; cosmic entities in Islamic cosmology, mentioned in the Quran.
179. al-lawḥ wa al-qalam : The Tablet and the Pen; the Preserved Tablet and the Pen of destiny in Islamic theology.
180. Quran 3:133 : Quranic verse: 'Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous.'
181. al-ʿārifūn : The knowers; Sufi term for those who have direct experiential knowledge of God.
182. lisān al-iltibās : Language of ambiguity; a mode of divine address that is veiled or allusive.
183. ʿayn al-jamʿ : Essence of union; a Sufi term for the highest state of unity with the divine.
184. al-wāṣilūn : Those who have attained; Sufi term for those who have reached union with God.
185. nūr al-iqtibās : Light of derivation; a Sufi term for the light derived from the Prophet or divine source.
186. jamʿ al-jamʿ : Union of unions; a Sufi term for the highest level of spiritual unity.
187. al-rāsikhūn : The deeply rooted; those firmly grounded in knowledge, often referring to scholars or Sufis.
188. Quran 4:80 : Quranic verse: 'Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God.'
189. al-wasīla : The means; a term for the Prophet as the intermediary between God and creation.
190. mirʾāt al-ḥaqq : Mirror of the Truth; a Sufi concept where the Prophet reflects divine attributes.
191. yawm alastu : The day of 'Am I not'; refers to the primordial covenant in Quran 7:172 when God asked souls 'Am I not your Lord?'
192. Quran 9:128 : Quranic verse: 'There has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; grievous to him is your suffering; anxious over you; to the believers, kind and merciful.'
193. al-maʿrifa al-muḥammadiyya : Muhammadan knowledge: the esoteric spiritual knowledge associated with the Prophet Muhammad, often considered the highest form of gnosis in Sufism.
194. aḥmadiyya : Ahmad is another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'. 'Ahmadan conduct' refers to his character and way.
195. al-malāʾika al-karūbiyyūn : Cherubim: a high rank of angels in Islamic cosmology, often associated with nearness to God and constant worship.
196. al-hayākil al-nūrāniyya wa al-ẓulmāniyya : Luminous and dark forms: refers to spiritual and material beings or realms, light and dark aspects of creation.
197. Ṭayyiba : Tayyiba is a name for Medina, meaning 'good' or 'pure', often used in poetry.
198. Bāb al-Salām : Gate of Peace: one of the gates of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, also a name for a gate of Paradise.
199. al-Kawthar : A river in Paradise promised to the Prophet Muhammad, also the name of a chapter in the Quran.
200. Aḥmad : A name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy', derived from the same root as 'ḥamd' (praise).
201. Muḥammad : The name of the Prophet, meaning 'praised one'.
202. Riḍwān : The angel keeper of Paradise, also meaning 'divine pleasure'.
203. al-Ḥawḍ : The Basin (al-Kawthar) of the Prophet Muhammad in Paradise, from which believers will drink on the Day of Judgment.
204. nad : A type of fragrant perfume, often ambergris or a blend of scents.
205. Ahmad : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
206. khayr al-qurun : The best of centuries, referring to the era of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions.
207. al-maktabayn : The two sanctuaries, i.e., Mecca and Medina.
208. jannat 'adn : Gardens of Eden, a level of Paradise.
209. al-'urun : Maidens of Paradise, often described as wide-eyed houris.
210. Taha : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, from the Quranic chapter Taha.
211. al-jamal al-aḥmar : The red camel, a reference to a specific mount of the Prophet Muhammad, mentioned in some traditions.
212. yā rabb al-‘ālamīn : O Lord of the worlds, a common Quranic phrase addressing God as the sustainer of all creation.
213. mā bayna qabrī wa minbarī : A famous hadith: 'Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise.'
214. al-riyāḍ : The gardens, referring to the area between the Prophet's grave and pulpit in Medina, considered a blessed place.
215. al-Hāshimī : The Hashimite; referring to the Prophet Muhammad, who belonged to the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe.
216. Aḥmad : Another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
217. as-Sabʿ al-Mathānī : The Seven Oft-Repeated; refers to Surah al-Fatiha, which is recited repeatedly in prayers.
218. Ḥātim al-Aṣamm : A famous early Sufi ascetic and scholar from Balkh (d. 237/851), known for his piety and wisdom.
219. Ṭaybah : A name for Medina, meaning 'the good/pure one'.
220. Kaʿbah : The sacred cube-shaped building in Mecca, the direction of prayer for Muslims.
221. Kaʿb al-Aḥbār : A Jewish convert to Islam from Yemen (d. 32/652), known for his knowledge of biblical and Islamic traditions.
222. rawḍah : Literally 'garden'; refers to the area between the Prophet's pulpit and his house in Medina, considered one of the gardens of Paradise.
223. Ṭaybah : One of the names of Medina, meaning 'good' or 'pleasant'.
224. al-masjidayn : The two mosques: the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.
225. Kaʿbah : The cube-shaped building in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, towards which Muslims pray.
226. qiblah : The direction of prayer for Muslims, towards the Kaaba in Mecca.
227. ʿumrah : The lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, performed at any time of the year.
228. Abū Bakr wa ʿUmar : The first and second caliphs of Islam, companions of the Prophet Muhammad, buried beside him in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.
229. Ṣāḥib Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt : The author of 'Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt', a famous collection of prayers upon the Prophet, by Muhammad al-Jazuli (d. 1465).
230. Yathrib : The pre-Islamic name of Medina.
231. al-Baqīʿ : The cemetery in Medina where many companions and family members of the Prophet are buried.
232. Salʿ : A mountain in Medina, near the Prophet's Mosque.
233. turbihā : Literally 'its soil'; refers to the sacred earth of the Prophet's grave.
234. aṭyāruhu : Literally 'its birds'; a poetic reference to birds singing.
235. Qurashī : Belonging to the Quraysh tribe, the Prophet's tribe.
236. Tihāmī : From Tihama, the coastal region of Arabia including Mecca.
237. Najdī : From Najd, the central plateau of Arabia; here referring to the Prophet's lineage or connection.
238. Khalīl Allāh : Intimate Friend of Allah; a title given to Prophet Abraham, but here applied to Muhammad as a term of endearment.
239. Kalīm Allāh : Interlocutor of Allah; a title given to Prophet Moses, but here applied to Muhammad.
240. Sayyid al-Kawnayn : Master of the Two Worlds (this world and the Hereafter).
241. Rūḥ al-Thaqalayn : Spirit of the Two Weighty Ones (humans and jinn).
242. Nūr Sawād al-Muqlatayn : Light of the Black of the Eyes; a poetic expression meaning the apple of one's eye.
243. Jadd al-Ḥasan wa al-Ḥusayn : Grandfather of al-Hasan and al-Husayn, the Prophet's grandsons.
244. Abā al-Ṭāhirah al-Zahrāʾ al-Batūl : Father of the Pure, the Radiant, the Virgin; referring to Fatima, the Prophet's daughter.
245. Ẓāhir al-Uṣūl wa al-Fuṣūl : Manifest of Origins and Divisions; a title indicating the Prophet's clear lineage and the clarity of his message.
246. Ṣāḥib al-Minbar wa al-Miʿrāj : Possessor of the Pulpit and the Ascension; referring to the Prophet's pulpit in Medina and his night journey and ascension to heaven.
247. Ṣāḥib al-Iklīl wa al-Tāj : Possessor of the Crown and the Diadem; metaphorical titles of honor for the Prophet.
248. sayyid al-mursalīn : Master of the messengers, a title for Prophet Muhammad.
249. al-ghurr al-muḥajjalīn : The white-blazed ones, referring to the Prophet's companions who will be distinguished on the Day of Resurrection by the marks of ablution.
250. al-muhayminīn : Guardian angels, those who oversee and protect.
251. sabbaḥat fī kaffihi al-ḥaṣā : A miracle where pebbles glorified Allah in the Prophet's palm.
252. awraqat fī yadihi min ḥīnihā al-ʿaṣā : A miracle where a dry staff sprouted leaves in the Prophet's hand.
253. quṭb al-jamāl : Pole of beauty, a Sufi term for the spiritual axis of beauty.
254. al-afrād wa al-awtād : The solitary ones and the pegs, Sufi terms for high-ranking saints who are spiritual supports of the world.
255. Mawlā al-Niʿam : Master of Graces: a title for the Prophet Muhammad, acknowledging him as the source of divine blessings.
256. Shafīʿ al-Umam : Intercessor of the Nations: a title for the Prophet Muhammad, referring to his role as intercessor for all communities on the Day of Judgment.
257. Qur'an 4:64 : A verse from the Qur'an indicating that seeking the Prophet's intercession and forgiveness is a means of obtaining divine mercy.
258. Ḥaram : Sacred precinct: a place declared inviolable by God, often referring to the area around the Kaaba or the Prophet's mosque in Medina.
259. al-Qawl al-Thābit : The firm word: a Qur'anic phrase (14:27) referring to the testimony of faith that grants steadfastness in this life and the afterlife.
260. Kaʿbat al-Faḍl : Kaaba of grace: a metaphorical expression likening the Prophet to the Kaaba, the focal point of worship, as a source of divine favor.
261. Ḥijāz : The western region of Arabia containing Mecca and Medina, central to Islamic history and pilgrimage.
262. Ḍarīḥ : Tomb or shrine, specifically the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.
263. al-Muṣṭafā : The Chosen One: a title for the Prophet Muhammad, emphasizing his selection by God.
264. ʿĀrifūn : Knowers: in Sufi terminology, those who have attained direct experiential knowledge (maʿrifa) of God.
265. Sālikūn : Wayfarers: spiritual seekers on the Sufi path (ṭarīqa) toward God.
266. Zāhidūn : Ascetics: those who practice zuhd, renunciation of worldly pleasures for spiritual devotion.
267. Wāṣilūn : Those who have attained union: in Sufism, those who have reached the state of spiritual union with the Divine.
268. ḍarīḥ : The tomb or shrine of a saint or prophet, often referring to the physical burial place.
269. al-Khalil : A title of the Prophet Abraham, meaning 'the Friend' (of Allah). Here it refers to the city of Hebron (al-Khalil) where Abraham's tomb is located.
270. Ahmadi : Derived from Ahmad, one of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'. 'Ahmadic grace' refers to the spiritual blessings associated with the Prophet.
271. Muhammadi : Derived from Muhammad, meaning 'praised'. 'Muhammadan effusions' refers to the spiritual emanations or blessings from the Prophet Muhammad.
272. al-Baqi' : The cemetery in Medina where many of the Prophet's family and Companions are buried.
273. rawḍah : Literally 'garden'; refers to the area between the Prophet's pulpit and his grave in Medina, considered one of the gardens of Paradise.
274. Ṭaybah : One of the names of Medina, meaning 'the good/pure city'.
275. al-ʿArsh : The Throne of Allah, the greatest of His creations, often symbolizing divine sovereignty.
276. sirr : Spiritual secret or inner mystery; in Sufi terminology, the innermost aspect of the soul where divine knowledge is received.
277. jāh : Rank, status, or honor; here referring to the Prophet's high station before Allah.
278. Sunnah : The prophetic tradition; the teachings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.
279. Ahmad : Another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
280. tajallī : Divine self-disclosure or manifestation; a Sufi term for the unveiling of divine attributes.
281. Mustafawī : Pertaining to al-Mustafa, 'the Chosen One', an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad.
282. mawāhib ladunniyya : Divine gifts or graces bestowed directly from Allah, without intermediate causes.
283. Mawlawī : Pertaining to Mawlana (our master); often refers to the Sufi order of Jalal al-Din Rumi, but here likely means 'lordly' or 'divine' secrets.
284. ʿārif : A gnostic; one who has direct experiential knowledge (maʿrifa) of Allah.
285. shaṭḥ : Ecstatic utterance; a paradoxical or seemingly blasphemous saying uttered by a Sufi in a state of spiritual intoxication.
286. shabbāk : The lattice or grille surrounding the Prophet's grave in Medina.
287. Ka'ba : Here metaphorically referring to the Prophet's grave as a sacred sanctuary akin to the Ka'ba.
288. Muhājirī : Relating to the Muhājirūn, the early Muslims who emigrated from Mecca to Medina.
289. arāk : A tree (Salvadora persica) whose twigs are used as miswāk (toothbrush).
290. Tasnīm : A spring in Paradise mentioned in the Quran (83:27).
291. Salsabīl : A spring in Paradise mentioned in the Quran (76:18).
292. maqām : A spiritual station or rank in the Sufi path, denoting a stage of spiritual development.
293. al-birr wa al-rūḥ : Al-birr means piety or righteousness; al-rūḥ means the spirit, often referring to the Divine Spirit or the spirit of guidance.
294. al-waḥy : Divine revelation, specifically the Quranic revelation sent down to Prophet Muhammad.
295. Jibrīl : The archangel Gabriel, who conveyed revelation to the prophets.
296. khayr al-mursalīn : The best of the messengers, referring to Prophet Muhammad.
297. rawḍah : A garden; here it likely refers to the Rawdah in Medina, the area between the Prophet's pulpit and his grave, considered a garden of Paradise.
298. jannat al-firdaws : The highest level of Paradise, often translated as the Garden of Firdaws.
299. al-mahdī : The guided one; here it is a title of Prophet Muhammad, meaning he is guided by God and guides others.
300. aṣḥāb : Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, those who met him and believed in him.
301. Abū Bakr : The first Caliph after the Prophet's death, known for his close companionship and support.
302. Abū Ḥafṣ : A reference to Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Caliph, whose kunya was Abu Hafs.
303. muḥaddith : A narrator of hadith; Umar was known for his knowledge and transmission of prophetic traditions.
304. Aḥmad : Another name of Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'the most praiseworthy'.