The remembrance [1] of the Beloved [2] is a light that illuminates the heart, and the…

The remembrance [1] of the Beloved [2] is a light that illuminates the heart, and the seeker [3] who persists in it attains the station of proximity [4].

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And may Allah bless our master Muhammad, his family, and his companions and grant them peace. The Shaykh, the Imam, the Gnostic ¹, the Determined, the Interpreter of those who have attained union ², the Seal of the wayfarers ³ and the attracted ones ⁴, the ultimate object of my hope and my expansion, Abu Abdullah, my master Muhammad al-Mughiti al-Sharqi al-Umari, may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him, and benefit us and you through his blessings, Amen. Praise be to Allah, the Opener of doors, the Facilitator of means, the Guide of those for whom happiness has been decreed to the path of right guidance and correctness. Praise be to Allah, the Revealer of the Book, the Emancipator of necks from those who sincerely turn to Him and repent, the Acceptor of the obedience of those who hasten to His pleasure and respond. And blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, the lamp and light of insights, the remover of... To proceed: When I saw the illumination of intellects ⁵, the removal of ailments, the multiplication of reward, the lightening of reckoning and punishment, and the ascent of those who increase in them to the stations of proximity and nearness, I made the means of invoking through them ⁶ in this book a cause for what I seek: the facilitation of difficult matters, the fulfillment of worldly and otherworldly needs, the attainment of goals and objectives, and the seeking of pardon, well-being, contentment, opening ⁷, acceptance, victory, and support from the Sovereign, the Bestower, there is no god but He; upon Him I rely and to Him I turn in repentance. I have included in them abundant blessings ⁸ and noble, blessed supplications that encompass the request for love, mercy, compassion, affection, and generosity for His beloved, our master and lord Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and honor, magnify, and glorify him, and for his family, companions, wives, descendants, loved ones, and his brethren among the prophets, messengers, the truthful, the martyrs, the righteous, and all the saints ⁹, the chosen ones, the scholars, the sages, the noble ones, the pious, and among them the people of ecstatic states ¹⁰, ecstatic utterances ¹¹, attractions ¹², stations ¹³, ranks ¹⁴, acts of obedience, acts of nearness, and the relief of the distressed, and the repelling of hardships and calamities. I have added to them radiant, luminous, goodly, pure, excellent, and fragrant blessings, with which I have appended two blessings narrated by some of the Eastern Imams, the noble leaders ¹⁵, the great, trustworthy luminaries, due to the shining lights of their radiant lights and the flashing secrets of their brilliant illuminations, and the manifestation of their virtues and extraordinary graces ¹⁶. Allah is the one asked to purify our intentions, to join us with the people of goodness and righteousness in the most perfect states and purest intentions. Indeed, He is powerful over whatever He wills, and worthy of answering. There is no power nor strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent. O Lord, bless the chosen Prophet, as long as the cooing dove sings in the groves of the hills. O Lord, bless the Prophet and his family, as long as the tamarisk trees sway with the breath of the east wind. O Lord, bless the Prophet and his family, as long as the visitors head to Taybah ¹⁷ and its soil. O Lord, bless the Prophet and his family, as long as lightning flashes in the valleys or fades. O Lord, bless the Prophet and his family, as long as a generous person says to a guest, "Welcome." O Lord, bless the Prophet and his family, as long as a star in the sky meets another star. O Lord, bless the one whom You brought near to the distance of two bow-lengths ¹⁸, the nearest station. By Allah, O you who delight in his remembrance, bless him as is right and obligatory. Bless the Chosen One, for he is your intercessor on a day when every child is raised gray-haired. Bless the one who was shaded by a cloud, and the trunk yearned for him, and the swords spoke ¹⁹. Bless the one through whose rank you enter the Abode of Peace ²⁰ and attain your goal. Bless him and grant him peace and mercy, and you will drink from the pool of honor ²¹ through him. May the Possessor of Majesty bless and grant peace to you, O most faithful and generous to those who complete. May the Possessor of Majesty bless and grant peace to you, O highest of creation in honor and most noble in lineage. May the Possessor of Majesty bless and grant peace to you, O whose light of countenance pierces the darkness. May the Possessor of Majesty bless and grant peace to you, O sweetest and most delightful remembrance in hearts. May the Possessor of Majesty bless and grant peace to you from Abd al-Rahim ²² as a means of approach and nearness. A splendid, wondrous praise, a superior, strange style, and blessings containing supplications that attract the pleasure of our Lord, the Near, the Responsive, and guarantee for its reader victory, support ²³, and imminent opening ²⁴. So, O Allah, bless its possessor with a blessing by which You write us in the register of the people of happiness and nearness, and grant us through it the fullest share and portion of Your pleasure and his pleasure, 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 by which You open doors for us, facilitate means for us, and unseal for us from the intricacies of affairs what was closed ²⁵. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You bequeath to us the station of the poles ²⁶, and cause us to descend to the stations of the noble leaders ²⁷, and make us among those whom You have crowned with the crown of Your care and adorned with its necklace. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You purify our intellects ²⁸, and provide us with good manners, and make us among those whom You have attracted to Your presence and driven to it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose blessing benefits our loved ones, and whose virtue appears among friends and companions, and increases us in love and longing for Your service and the service of Your Prophet. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You improve our speech, guide us to the path of goodness and correctness, and repel from us every sin that hinders us from reaching You ²⁹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You remove the veil from us, make our drink pleasant, and make us among those whom You have brought near to You and given to taste of the wine of Your love. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause us to die upon the Sunnah and the Book, and bring us near to You in proximity and goodly return, and make us among those whom You have honored with the vision of Your Essence, so they fell in awe at the sight of its beauty and were struck unconscious ³⁰. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You remove ailments from us, protect us in going and coming, and grant us a provision...

Halalan tayyiban wasi'an wa qutan min shawa'ibi al-harami munaqqa. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You free necks from us, and grant us abundant reward, and erase by it what we have committed of major and minor sins, and annihilate it completely. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You save us from the causes of disgrace and punishment, and whiten our faces on the Day of Presentation and Reckoning, and make us by it among those who hastened to Your Garden and raced to it. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You magnify nearness for us, and raise ranks for us, and make us by it among those whose mention You have exalted and through whom You have illuminated the lands, west and east. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You complete for us desire, and secure us from fear, and make firm our feet on the day when feet slip and perish utterly. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You protect us from harm, and relieve us from distress, and make us by it among those whom You have treated with Your gentleness and favored with Your pardon and well-being, so that they do not die by collapse, nor by burning, nor by drowning. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You correct for us lineage, and complete for us honor, and make us by it among those whom You have purified in origin and branch, root and stock. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You fulfill for us need, and protect us from wasting time in frivolity and pleasure, and make us by it among those whose hearts You have illuminated with the light of obedience and guidance, and between whom and those who do not believe in the Hereafter You have made a distinction. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You give us rest from fatigue, and remove from us exhaustion and ailment, and adorn us with the sash of Your friendship, and show us from the flashes of Your mercies a lightning bolt. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You fulfill for us the request, and grant us refuge from the depth of misery and evil end, and make us by it among those whom You have led along the best paths and for whom You have made easy from the means of reaching You various ways. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You mend the broken among us, and free the captive among us, and make us by it among those upon whom You have poured forth from the gifts of Your effusions and taste. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You make easy for us the difficult, and facilitate for us the journey on the path of reaching You, and make it for us a ladder to the carpet of nearness to You and an ascent. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You honor the lowly among us and enrich the poor among us, and make us by it among those for whom You have opened the doors of good things and poured forth upon them from the treasures of Your vast mercy provision. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You heal the blind among us, and have mercy on the young and old among us, and make us by it among those whose hearts You have filled with compassion and mercy, and whom You have made beautiful in form and character. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You reform the leader among us, and give us rest from the attachments of choice and planning, and we become by it among those who have settled under the currents of destinies, thereby increasing in faith, love, and sincerity. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You adorn us with the amulets of kindnesses and cause us to descend to the stations of the noble, and purify our bodies with the elixir of Your divine love, and rend them asunder. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You purify our states and save us from the afflictions of earthquakes and terrors, and grant us refuge from every distress that confuses minds and brings worries and sorrows, and makes the spacious narrow. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You lighten our burdens, and calm the storms of fear and dread, and restrain from us the hand of the people of deviation and misguidance, and make the plot of whoever plotted against us in his throat, and crush it utterly. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You release for us the shackles, and grant us gentleness in stillness, movements, and transitions, and write us in the register of those whom You have drawn to visit his noble grave and driven to it. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You open for us the doors of joy and acceptance, and regard us with the eye of veneration and glorification, and raise us to the stations of nearness and connection, and elevate the rank of every humble and obscure one cast in the corners of neglect. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause us to descend to the stations of the pious, and grant us the rank of the righteous and the good, and make us by it among those whose spirituality ascends in the ladders of nearness and love and rises. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You remove from us worries and sorrows, and suffice us against the evil of the wicked and the plot of the immoral, and free our necks from the heat of the blazing fire and the punishment of Hell, and return us from every terror that burns bodies, rends livers, and tears them apart. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and upon his family, a blessing whose fragrance wafts over us with rest and fragrance, and diffuses, and whose dew pours upon us with blessing.

And security, and her grace endures through the passage of ages and times, and remains, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. So live in the protection of the best of mankind ³¹ and die with him, if you seek to ascend in both abodes. Muhammad, sent as a mercy to creation, the most forbearing of them, the most gentle of them, the most excellent of those who have walked upon the earth, the most beautiful in face, the most eloquent in speech, the most truthful in promise, the most generous in hand, the most perfect in form, the greatest in character. If you go seeking aid from a generous one, then the most generous you will meet is the best of creation. If you seek knowledge, all knowledge is with him; how many hearts has he purified from ignorance? If you fear the vicissitudes of time, he is our security when tears do not avail from fear of the Resurrection. A beloved of the Lord of the worlds, so love him; he mingles with our flesh, bone, and veins. By his call we are watered, and under his banner we answer when called, and from his basin we are watered ³². I have fled to Your mercy, O Master of humanity, to mend my slips, for their tear has become great. And from every sea of poetry I have brought jewels of praise for you, which I string in order. I come hoping for Your good acceptance; if my hope is realized, how excellent is what I meet! The tongue that crafted your praise is too exalted to be a reed pen ³³ burned by fire or disgraced by burning. Upon you be the blessings of God, O best of messengers, and upon your family and companions who sincerely advised creation. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You grant us beneficial knowledge and understanding, and remove from our hearts what causes doubt and illusion in their beliefs. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You bestow upon us good character and forbearance, and forgive us for the sins we have brought upon ourselves through transgression and oppression. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ³⁴, a blessing by which You grant us a humble and merciful heart, and increase in us love for You that mingles with our blood, bone, and flesh. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You give us complete authority in Your kingdom and judgment, and save us from ears deaf to hearing what does not concern us and tongues mute from speaking it. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You increase us in strength and resolve for Your obedience, and grant us in knowledge of You a conviction that corresponds to the reality of the matter and is certain. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You grant us an abundant share of good and portion, and protect us from every harm that weakens the limbs and afflicts heart and body. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ³⁵, a blessing by which You protect us from every sin that corrupts bodies and brings them harm and sickness, and fill the pages of our deeds with the abundance of its immense reward, writing and recording. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You place between us and Your disobedience a barrier and a dam, and save us from every misdeed that nullifies deeds and demolishes them. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You protect us from every matter that suddenly befalls us and assaults us, and suffice us against the harm of those whose evil is feared from all of creation, Arab and non-Arab. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You expiate for us every consequence that leaves no trace or mark for us in the register of the near ones, and by which we become among those whom You have marked with the mark of the people of good and written for them a name in the scroll of their proclamation. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ³⁶, a blessing by which You guard us from every trial that turns us away from the path of guidance and breaks us, and by which You restrain from us the hand of every obstinate tyrant and break him with the sword of Your might. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You whiten the pages of our deeds and leave no sin or transgression in them, and make us among those who circumambulate the Ancient House ³⁷ and kiss the Blessed Stone ³⁸ and press their lips to it. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose blessing appears upon us in what we have undertaken of righteous deeds, from beginning to end, and suffice us against the evil of one who seeks us with harm, violates our honor, and reviles us. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom You regard with the eye of Your kindness and secure from adversities, so they fear neither oppression nor injustice, and You magnify their gift among the praisers and accept from them what they have praised Your beloved with, in prose and verse. So bless him, O God, and his family, a blessing by which You repel from us every harmful evil, affliction, fever, and grant us among Your beloved in the Abode of Honor ³⁹ a lofty station and a high degree ⁴⁰, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. * By the supreme might of Your most noble and exalted glory, by the secret of the secret of the attribute by the Essence, by the Names, * By the light of the unveiling that removes confusion, a light for the eye of the unveiling that grants the cosmos its completion, * By the holiness of fidelity by the spirit in the barzakh ⁴¹ of purity, by the Hoot ⁴² of the unseen desire, inner and not general, * By a tablet ⁴³ on which the inscription of realities is fixed, by a subtlety that manifests without appearing or being imagined, * By the ark ⁴⁴ of the secrets of the Shekhinah ⁴⁵, by the name of Him who for every existence by witnessing has ascended, * By the unity of the gathering of the kingdom in His dominion, it strengthens with empowerment from its secret a division, * By the verse of the criterion ⁴⁶ of the indication, it is unveiled by the interpretation of interpretation for one who seeks understanding, * By what was when there was no existence nor other, by what was completed from the verification of our writing in pre-eternity, * By a barzakh of a sea of the contingent and the magnified, the eternal, you see things from His might as non-existence, * By Him who shone to the spirits on the day they crowded upon its unveiling, since it was, what by it was completed, * By him who led in the mihrab ¹⁷ of his affirmation, by him who for the gatherings of the gathering in his description led, * Grant me from the spirit of the Shekhinah its spirit, by Your holiness, O God, my Lord, and it has been completed. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing...

That we may be, through it, among those upon whose tongues You have caused the springs of Your wisdom to flow ⁴⁷, so they spoke the truth and said what is right. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whose hearts You have illumined with the lights of Your knowledge ⁴⁸, and through whom You have opened doors to the understanding of Your divine sciences ⁴⁹. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have drawn to Your presence ⁵⁰, and for whom You have facilitated the means to the path of success and happiness. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have blessed with the perfection of Your regard, so they delight in intimate conversation with You in the early dawn ⁵¹ and hear a discourse from Your most exalted court. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have perfumed with the fragrance of Your breath ⁵² and for whom You have lifted the veil from the hidden treasures of Your holy secrets. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whose limbs You have prepared for Your service, and whom You have drawn to the stations of Your nearness, and given to drink from the cup of Your love a drink. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whose hearts You have united upon pure love of You, and made them brothers in this worldly life and beloved ones in the Hereafter. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have supported with the support of Your infallibility ⁵³, and placed between them and sins a preventing wall and a veil. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have advanced with the reins of Your guidance ⁵⁴, so You granted them success in guiding and made them seekers of righteous deeds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have observed with the eye of Your care, so they became ascetic in this world and its attachments, and saw its embellishments as a mirage. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whose feet You have established on the carpet of Your sainthood ⁵⁵, and You took charge of them with Your protection and care, and guarded them from the obstacles that prevent going and coming. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have entered into the shelter of Your protection, and brought them near to You, so they attained thereby honor, nobility, and affiliation. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whose hands You have extended in the domain of Your kingdom ⁵⁶, and they acted therein with general permission, fearing neither expulsion, blame, nor reproach. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have enraptured with love and obedience to You, and they populated Your mosques with remembrance and recitation, and abandoned the transient houses and made them ruins. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have chosen from Your creation, and illumined their inner sight with the lights of Your Self-Subsistence ⁵⁷, and granted them pure faith in You and sincere certainty without doubt or hesitation. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have made intercessors for Your creatures and made them know the perfection of Your reality, and revived through them the landmarks of Your law, and made them keys to the means of good and doors. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those who worshipped You as is due to You ⁵⁸, so You granted them success to the path of Your victory and happiness, and directed them to You with sincerity of conduct, so they fear neither punishment nor hope for reward. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have treated with Your pardon and forgiveness, and given to drink from the pure drink of Your love, and concealed them from creation out of Your jealousy for them, and let down upon them from the cloak of Your forbearance a garment. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have entrusted with Your dominion and Your way, and manifested upon them the evidences of Your grace and favor, and rewarded them in the abode of Your honor with elevation of ranks and the highest stations, and made them intercessors for brothers and loved ones, old and young. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we may be among those whom You have honored in Your spacious paradise, and poured upon them the gifts of Your grace and abundant blessings, and honored them with the vision of Your noble face ⁵⁹, and married them to the wide-eyed houris, young maidens and companions. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing through which You give us to drink from the delicious wine of his love, and increase us thereby in nearness and proximity to the carpet of his prophetic presence, and make us thereby among those upon whom You have bestowed Your generosity and kindness, and entered them into the fortress of Your security and sanctuary, so they fear neither diminution nor oppression, nor burden nor punishment, by Your grace and kindness, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. The prince of beauty, my heart in You has melted, and in You the lover has found sweet the bitter. And if the concealments of patience have weakened my body, the bitterness of patience in You has become sweet and pleasant. And the fire of longing, since it ignited in my heart, for Your sake my blackened parting has turned white. We live when You unveil the face for us, and You open for us when You let down the veil. With Your face, O beautiful of turning away, turn towards a lover who has found Your love sweet.

When the lover justly deserves abandonment, your grace, my master, has lifted reproach. You have been kind to a lover who concealed his face, and your union, when the distant one calls, answers. Your countenance takes the place of full moons, and the moon could not properly replace it. When a face appears in a smile, it becomes a veil for the sun. The light of the sun in the cosmos is sweet, but your light in hearts has risen high. The lights of hearts are elevated above the sun that seeks concealment. The light of the heart is a sublime tawhid ⁶⁰ by which the servant attains gnosis. That is related from the Messenger of Allah, and it is a gift or an acquisition. All the best of good from his hands is given to us from the Guide, the Beloved. The Messenger of Allah is truly the servant of Allah and the first to respond to his call. How many days did he thirst with excellent fasting, and how many nights did the Guide stay awake seeking reward. In obedience to his Lord in every state, he spent his old age and youth. He was guided as a child, and he adorned compliance and avoidance. He was sent to both worlds ⁶¹ entirely, and his mission became universal when he responded. The Beloved of Allah, our guide to Him, and the most honorable who speaks to us rightly. The greatest intercessor for us on the Day of Gathering, who will save us when we fear the reckoning. He will rescue us from all mires and give us drink from the Basin ⁶². Upon him and his family be the purest peace, and upon his Companions, as long as the caravan follows the domes. 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 grew up in the cradle of purity and chastity and were nurtured, and the best of those who came with warning and glad tidings and prophesied, a blessing that increases us in desire and love for serving his lofty station, and by which we become among those whom divine care has drawn to visit his noble grave and responded to his caller and answered. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that bestows upon us its breaths from his prophetic carpet, and pours down upon us the clouds of its mercies from the oceans of his chosen support. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that draws our souls to his blessed presence, and gives us to drink from the wine of his Mawlawi ⁶³ love a full cup and a sweet abundant drink. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we harvest from the gardens of his holy gifts fruit and pasture, and take it for our apparent and hidden ailments as a beneficial antidote, cure, and medicine. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that illuminates our hearing, sight, heart, and intellect, and makes our stagnant mind enamored with composing his praises and passionately longing. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that purifies us from the impurities of will, both outward and inward, and grants us by its blessing a humble heart and a tongue soft and moist with Your remembrance. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that grants us from You opening, union, and nearness, and records for us before You registers and books of righteous deeds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that removes from the mirrors of our insights clouds and veils, and eliminates from the intrigues of our secrets pride, hypocrisy, and self-admiration. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that revives the deadness of our hearts and makes them fertile after drought, and plants in them from the trees of Your gnosis planted gardens and dense groves. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that urges our mounts to the land of al-Baqi' ⁶⁴ and makes it our resting place and soil, and accepts it from us as a gift for his carpet, whose benefit encompasses all creatures, non-Arab and Arab. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that eases for us matters that were difficult, and replaces our hardship with ease, and makes our narrowness spacious. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that protects us from the afflictions of food and drink and makes them pure for us as sustenance and earnings, and makes us among those whose states You have guarded from cutting obstacles, so that neither expulsion, nor loss, nor plunder is feared. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that nourishes us with its remembrance and makes it for us a perpetual drink, supply, and beverage, and by it we become for all the cosmic worlds a protection, succor, and pole ⁶⁵. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You forgive us the sins we have committed, and by its blessing leave no mistake or sin in our records, and secure us from the calamities of time, so that we fear neither drowning, nor burning, nor plunder. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that protects us from destructive deeds that bring us reproach, blame, and rebuke, and suffices us against the evil of those who violate our honor and harm us with slander, backbiting, and gossip. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those who manifested his Muhammadan Sharia and defended it vigorously, and strove for his Ahmadine ⁶⁶ Sunna and drew sharp arrows for its victory. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we become among those who spread his praises among the lovers and exalted his rank east and west, and journeyed to visit his illuminated shrine and hastened to it as delegations and riders, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. A prophet who guided those among us who were astray with his guidance, and through tawhid ⁶⁰ reached those who worshipped idols. He moved us away from the darkness of injustice out of mercy, and extended over us the shade of his victorious religion. He continued to call us to Allah alone until we accepted Allah, glorified be He, as Lord.

Were it not for him, existence would not have been brought into being, nor would the Most Merciful have sent messengers or prophets. No earth has ever contained the like of Ahmad, nor has the Most Merciful entrusted such a one to a womb or a loin. The reports before his mission concurred that the Most Merciful would manifest the highest of creation in rank. Moses and Jesus, son of Mary, gave us glad tidings of him—for those who read the reports from the scriptures. Until he said: The people of the East and West were ennobled by a blessing whose enumeration the ink of the sea would fail to record. He taught the people of guidance a blessed remembrance ⁶⁷ that comprised prohibition, rulings, obligations, and recommendations. He intensified the warning until, when the men of polytheism became insolent against him, he addressed them with war. He continued until he broke the sharpness of their might and replaced their security with fear through the sword. By God's grace, he untied the knot of their resolve, and that was when he employed thrusting and striking. No fortified stronghold remained for the disbelievers, nor any rugged path or difficult ascent. The tyrants perished in every town, and the hopeful found pasture in the luminous Sunnah ⁶⁸. The generosity of his right hand vied with the blowing of the wind when the north wind of Syria sought to scatter the books. If Abraham was distinguished by intimate friendship ⁶⁹, then this prophet was given closeness and love. If Moses was spoken to above Mount Sinai, then Ahmad traversed the seven heavens and pierced the veils. If Moses caused a spring to gush from the rock, then Ahmad gave drink to the riders from his fingers. If Jesus son of Mary spoke to the dead, then in Ahmad's right hand the pebbles glorified [God]. He indeed excelled the angels and the messengers in rank over them, and he surpassed the jinn, the non-Arabs, and the Arabs. Do you not see that all the prophets, in the Hereafter, refer intercession to him? None of them says 'I am for it' except him, nor does anyone else attain such closeness. On that day, he will come beneath the shade of his banner, a beloved, and a refreshing, sweet, cool pool. May God bless him as long as a rising sun shines and as long as the stars delight in the night sky—a blessing and peace upon you and mercy, blessed, increasing, encompassing the ages, singling you out, my master, alive and dead, and including in its generality the family and companions. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose manifestations shine upon us with prosperity and blessing evening and morning, and whose fragrances waft upon us as glad tidings of success and happiness morning and evening. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our thoughts are refreshed with the breezes of his Muhammadan remembrances and find rest and expansion, and which illuminates with the gifts of his Ahmadine secrets, increasing in breadth and openness. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that unveils the brides of its lights in our hearts, stirring joy and happiness, and the secret of its wine flows in our innermost beings, causing bodies and souls to tremble. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You purify our character among the lovers, and bestow upon us modesty, generosity, and forgiveness, and which transports us into the garden of its desired meadows, guiding us to roses and camomile from the buds of its blossoms. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You draw our souls to the presence of Your witnessing, and which becomes for us a ladder by which we ascend to the stations of closeness and a wing, and which supplies us with its divine effusions, delivering me from the subtle meanings of its success and triumph. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by whose barakah ⁷⁰ we acquire love for him and longing for him, and our tongues become passionately eloquent with his remembrance, and by which You honor us with the vision of his radiant face and give us to drink from the cup of his Ahmadine supply a wine. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose recitation becomes for us a means to attract the wafts of good and a key, and by whose brilliant stars we are illumined in the darkness of our ignorance, and we take it as a guide to the paths of good and a lamp. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You clarify for us all that was obscure to us on the path of spiritual wayfaring to You, making it clear, and by which we are secure on the Day of Resurrection from the Great Terror, fearing no humiliation, disgrace, or exposure. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You grant us guidance, rectitude, and righteousness, and by which You enable us to follow the straight path of Your religion, and clothe us with the garments of Your might—a full coat of mail and a sash. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing from whose prophetic fragrance we inhale ambergris and fragrant musk, and from whose Mustafan ⁷¹ garden we pluck fresh ripe dates, citrons, and apples. So bless him, O God, and his family, a blessing that perfumes our gatherings—mosques, prayer niches, hills, and valleys—with the sweet scent of its Muhammadan fragrances, and by the barakah of its great secrets removes from us worries, sorrows, and griefs, and we attain from its virtues booty, wisdom, benefits, and profits, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Is it the flash of lightning in al-Abariq that gleamed, or in the hills of Najd do I see a lamp? Or is that Layla al-Amiriyya who shone forth at night, turning evening into morning? Or is it Tayyiba the radiant, whose light has begun to show its brilliance and its dazzling beauty? O rider of the swift she-camel at the time of destruction, if you come to Huzn or traverse Batah, and pass through Nu'man al-Arak, then turn aside to a valley there that you knew to be fragrant. Then to the right of the two landmarks of Sharqiyya, halt and smell its fragrant breeze. And when you reach the passes of al-Liwa, seek a heart that has fallen in the flatlands. Convey greetings to the Beloved and say to him: 'I left him yearning for your presence.' O dwellers of Najd, is there no mercy for a captive of longing who desires no release? Will you not send to the yearning one a greeting, folded within the pure winds of the evening? By an oath on Mecca, the Station ⁷², and the one who came to the Sacred House as a pilgrim, a traveler—the east wind never sways the elder of the hills but that it brings from you souls. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You illuminate our hearts, open for us the treasuries of the unseen, and pour upon us from the gifts of Your generosity knowledge by which we attain righteousness and guidance. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing...

Forgive us thereby our sins, and conceal thereby our faults, and accept it from us purely for Your Noble Face. Let it bear witness for us tomorrow on the Day of Resurrection, and take it as a covenant with You. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that opens for us thereby the doors of contentment and acceptance, and conveys us thereby to the utmost of our hopes and requests from Your pleasure, and makes us thereby among those whom You have prepared for Your service, so they did not slacken in Your obedience nor spare any effort. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that honors thereby our origins and branches ⁷³, and facilitates thereby for us the path of spiritual journeying ⁷⁴ to You and arrival, and makes us thereby among those whom You have made taste the sweetness of remembrances ⁷⁵, so they found their flavor in their mouths as intoxication and honey. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that teaches thereby the dull-witted and the ignorant among us, and rectifies thereby our spouses and children, and the youth and the elderly, and makes us thereby among those who have immersed their time in its recitation and taken it as a pillow, a cover, a cushion, and a cradle. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that awakens us thereby from the sleep of heedlessness, forgetfulness, and bewilderment, and writes us thereby in the register of those who exerted their effort in Your obedience until their bodies became colored with emaciation and withering, and makes us thereby among those who lowered their gaze from the embellishments of this world and its familiar things, and left its little possessions out of piety, contentment, and asceticism. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that rouses thereby for Your obedience the determination of the lazy and the bored, and subjugates thereby for Your worship the suns ⁷⁶, the difficult, and the submissive, and makes us thereby among those who stand for You in the darkness of the night and spend it in intimate conversation with You, sleepless and intoxicated. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that perfumes thereby our collars and hems, and enwraps us thereby in the garments of concealment ⁷⁷ and obscurity, and makes us thereby among those with whom You are pleased with that, and upon whom You bestow gratitude and praise for it. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that elevates us thereby in the stages of unveiling ⁷⁸ and proximity to the carpet of Your Presence and entry, and honors thereby our abode upon arriving to You in the abode of permanence and settlement, and expiates thereby for us what we have committed of sins and what we have incurred of consequences, whether by mistake or intentionally. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that settles us thereby in the stations of the noble great ones and the eminent leaders, and protects thereby our tongues from uttering what does not concern us of various kinds of idle talk, frivolity, and excess, and provides us thereby with beneficial knowledge by which we treat the masters of truthful spiritual states ⁷⁹ and heal our eyes with it from the disease of ignorance and misguidance, a chronic ailment. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that stabilizes thereby our thoughts and intellects, and corrects thereby for us the chains of transmission ⁸⁰ and transmitted reports, and grants us thereby understanding in the meanings of the sciences of Your realities, by which we acquire care, honor, and glory. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those who saddled their mounts to visit his noble tomb, traversing deserts and hills, and expended in his pleasure their souls and wealth until they stood at his noble sites and witnessed those dwellings and ruins, and urged their mounts toward his illuminated grave, observing those wildernesses, lowlands and highlands. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that quenches thereby our hearts from the drink of his love, washed clean, and heals thereby the burning thirst of ardent longing for his accepted passion, and makes us thereby among those who have annihilated their own annihilation ⁸¹ in the beauty of his essence and melted in yearning and ecstasy. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that fortifies us thereby against every terrible calamity and dreadful matter, and whose blessing returns upon us in all times comprehensively and inclusively, and makes it for us a means by which we seek blessing in all our affairs, beginning and returning. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose lights shine upon hills, mountains, and plains, and whose flow of supply surpasses the flow of rivers, streams, and torrents, and whose clouds of generosity and growing blessings rain upon us abundantly. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose light of guidance in the sky of our hearts is not subject to eclipse or setting, and makes it a treasure whose reward we benefit from upon arriving to You and returning, and makes it for us a protection by which we shield ourselves from temporal accidents, a strong fortress, and a mountain. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing with adorned rhymes, exquisite expressions and sections, smooth rhymes, easy to grasp and obtain, which the great ones magnify and crown with its crown the head, parting, and forehead. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that pours forth upon us thereby the seas of Your bestowed generosity, and lets down upon us thereby the cloak of Your lowered forbearance, and we become thereby among those whom You have brought near to You in closeness and granted honor, pride, blessedness, and happiness. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose eloquence incapacitates the masters of rational and transmitted knowledge, and whose fluency of expressions belittles the unique gems of heard and spoken words, and whose sweetness of remembrances renders unnecessary the tales of 'Amiriyya ⁸² and the mention of Buthayna ⁸³ and Su'da ⁸⁴. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that protects us from the assault of enemies with the polished sword of its protection, and guards us with the eye of its care from the tyranny of the oppressor, the deceit of the transgressor, the wrongdoer, and the forsaken, and repels his plot into his throat, and makes what he harbored for us in his inner self of enmity a burden for him, and ruin, destruction, and distance. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that treats us kindly thereby with Your hidden, encompassing kindness, and deals with us thereby with Your perfect grace and Your abundant, complete goodness, and completes for us by its blessing from the kinds of good things that You have bestowed upon us before.

And after: O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You grant us success in attaining the purpose and complete the desired and the requested, and by which You make us reach, from Your pleasure and his pleasure, the ultimate goal and the attainment of the hoped-for, and by which You give us what we have asked of You and beyond what we have asked of You of sublime gifts, and by which You fulfill for us a promise. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You connect us with the unbroken cord of Your love, and we boast by reciting it over all other lovers and we attack, and we adorn ourselves with its remembrance among the praisers and we make the pearls of its words a necklace upon the necks. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that extends for its reciter the span in width and length, and fulfills promises and pays the debt of the guaranteed meaning, and by which You grant us success in what we have covenanted with You regarding bearing the trust, and You do not break for us, by its virtue, the covenant we made with You. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You release from us the prison of the one bound by his sin and shackled, and by which You validate from us the deed of the happy, the approved, and the accepted, and by which You make us among those whom You met with pure grace and generosity, so they dealt with You on credit and You dealt with them in cash. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You raise from us the rank of the lowly and the neglected, and by which You aid from us the one standing in worship of You and the occupied, and by which You make us among those who find solace in Your remembrance in all their times and fear no loneliness, no miracle, and no loss. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You heal from us the sick and the ailing, and by which You release from us the one imprisoned in the captivity of his desires and fettered, and by which You purify our hearts from the filth of sins and extract from them rancor, envy, and hatred. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You enter us into the protection of every prophet and messenger, and by which You make us in the sanctuary of the two grandsons ⁸⁵ and their mother Fatima the Pure ⁸⁶, and by which You clothe us from the garments of their Mustafawi ⁸⁷ love with a full coat of mail and a cloak. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You remove from us the greatest of hardships and untie the knotted and twisted among them, and by which You extinguish the fire of trials and quench the blaze of its kindled heat, and cool for us its heat with the water of pardon and well-being, and make it for us peace and coolness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose virtues encompass all individuals of the known and the unknown, and whose bounty includes the one naturally disposed to love him and the one created, and by which You make us among those who abandoned their beds in His pleasure and drove sleep from their eyes. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You purify our innermost selves from deeds tainted with subtle hypocrisy, and by which You illuminate our insights with the light of knowledge purified from the impurities of ignorance, and by which You make us among those who were given the secret of special intimacy ⁸⁸, so he became its bridegroom on the carpet of proximity, one and unique. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You grant us refuge from the enmity of the appointed and the dismissed, and by which You suffice us against the evil of the strong and the weak, the fat and the lean, and by which You repel from us calamities that have troubled our states, constricted our chests, and made us gray-haired while young and beardless. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You protect us from the harm of the indirect and the direct cause and the twisted, and by which You restrain from us the tongue of the reviler, the blamer, and the reproacher, and by which You provide us with a righteous companion and a sincere advisor who recounts to us what we have neglected of our bad deeds and ugly actions. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those who fastened the saddles and loads for his visitation, and flew with the wing of longing towards him when they saw the howdahs and heard the sound of flutes and drums, and by which You make us among those who kissed the dust of his pure soil and inhaled from the fragrant scent of his illuminated shrine musk, clove, and rose. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose blessing encompasses the excellent and the inferior, and whose herald gives glad tidings of reunion to the one cut off from the path of the people of goodness and separated, and which becomes for the seeker a cause to the path of success and happiness, a means and a litany. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we inhale from the fragrance of his Muhammadan scent narcissus, jasmine, and rose, and find solace in the sweetness of his Ahmadic ⁸⁹ remembrance from the mention of Da'd, 'Izza, Layla al-'Amiriyya, and Su'da, and we take it as an army, a host, and a force to repel calamities and relieve distresses, 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 by which You adorn us with the most complete acts of worship and by which You purify us from voluntary arrangements and the impurities of wills, and by which You lead our limbs to Your service so that we turn to You with heart and body, and I become a pure slave, owned by You, a servant. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You grant us the subtleties of sciences and precious benefits, and by which You bestow upon us clear signs and miraculous events ⁹⁰, and by which You make us among those whom You have settled on the shore of the sea of Your generosity and granted from Your abundant grace a plentiful portion and a gift. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You raise for us the stations, and by which You bestow upon us the highest merits and the noblest honors, and by which You make us among those for whom You have opened the doors of Your happiness, so they hastened to Your obedience individually, in pairs, and in groups. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You lead us along the paths of salvation, and by which You elevate for us the ranks and raise the degrees, and we become by it among those whom You have caused to attain, in what they hoped from You, hope and purpose.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You multiply for us good deeds, forgive us sins, expiate misdeeds, and protect us from every act that disgraces states, nullifies deeds, and reaps them away. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You rectify for us intentions, purify from us inner secrets and thoughts ⁹¹, and protect from us hearts that desire has played with and left their land dry and hard ⁹². O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You preserve us from abominations and evil deeds, and repel from us the accidents of evils, calamities, and afflictions, and we become among those who rest under the currents of Your decrees and become content with what You have decreed upon them of the variations of Your judgments, submissive and steadfast ⁹³. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing that becomes for us a shield, a buckler, and armor against the thrust of spears, and by which we protect ourselves from the blazing fire of hell, so that we see neither its heat nor its cold ⁹⁴, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. ❖ When the light of the Prophet Muhammad appears ❖ In the witnessing place of the people of love, they rave with ecstasy ⁹⁵ ❖ And if they perceive in the spirit world his beauty ❖ They annihilate in him with longing and increase in love for him ❖ And if the full moon shines above his forehead ❖ The brides of the stars come to him as a gift ❖ And if the sun of prophethood and guidance shines ❖ Upon his face, it shows to all creation right guidance ❖ And if the Nile of generosity flows between his fingers ❖ The chaste ones of the cosmos come asking him for aid ❖ And whenever his secret and beauty manifest ❖ Upon the world of sensation, he renders it as loss ⁹⁶ ❖ And he witnesses from his unseen the light of a forehead-mark ⁹⁷ ❖ By which the Unique of Glory witnesses him as glory ⁹⁸ ❖ And he clothes him from His bounty with garments of splendor ❖ Upon which is the embroidery of sovereignty, adorning them as One ⁹⁹ ❖ And He made him in unveiling the master of his living kind ❖ When he ascends, he says: I have become His servant ❖ And He originated him in His secret as a recipient ❖ Of the springs of the eye of the eye, surpassing all limits ¹⁰⁰ ❖ And He concealed him from himself and from every presence ❖ And from Mayya, from Hind, from the desire of Su'da ¹⁰¹ ❖ So he became, when you meet him, near in his description ❖ As in the perfection of the Essence, He sent him down as far ¹⁰² Subtle, he calls when he calls with a hard rock ¹⁰³ And the encompassing assembly witnesses him in his distinction By his transmission of spirits, he stood with praise For in his oddness is the meaning of evenness, observing And his collective release from his being most guided From him is the meaning that is exalted in its origin And though the marks of his origins have vanished Like Jesus, he appeared as one, yet he filled the cradle So our witnessing place in origin is the unity of His Essence You measure it as creation and fulfill it as promise From him all perfection appeared to his people And from him the paths of the Living have been perfected in glory And whoever asks the Generous Lord by his rank Attains through him success and is given his aim Upon him be from the Most Merciful the purest greeting Whose fragrance spreads as dew and is offered to him as a rose O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You open for us the doors of contentment and good pleasure ¹⁰⁴, and by which You extend for us the hand of disposal in the world of spirits and all other worlds, and by which You make us among those whom You have honored with the secret of Your special favor and planted love for them in the hearts of Your righteous servants. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You realize us with the realities of faith, and by which You shine in our hearts the lights of sainthood and gnosis ¹⁰⁵, and by which You grant us a radiant light and a decisive proof by which we refute the argument of every obstinate opponent and silence a stubborn people. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You protect us from the causes of misery and abandonment, and by which You restrain from us the hand of the people of oppression, injustice, and tyranny, and by which You interpose between us and every enemy who violates honors, and by which You set between us and them a barrier from the canopies of Your protection ¹⁰⁶. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ¹⁰⁷, a blessing by which You guard us from the accidents of deprivation and deficiency, and by which You protect us from the evil of the soul that commands to evil and the whisperings of Satan, and by which You interpose between us and everyone who seeks us with evil, and cut off his trace with the sword of Your subjugation, sharp ¹⁰⁸. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You deliver us through pure devotion ¹⁰⁹, and by which You protect us from the causes of abandonment, severance, and deprivation, and by which You make us among those whom You have granted a lordly influx ¹¹⁰ that guides them to Your obedience and turns them away from Your disobedience. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You save us from the abysses of ruin and loss, and by which You meet us with pardon, forbearance, and forgiveness, and by which You make us among those whom You have regarded with the eye of Your kindness on the day when the earth splits and the mountains fall down. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You illuminate our hearts with the light of sincerity and certainty ¹¹¹, and by which You grant us success in righteous deeds in secret and in public, and make us among those who have preserved Your covenants and stood at Your limits, neither opposing a command nor transgressing a limit. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by whose beacon the noble essences ¹¹² follow, and by whose proofs the trace of the worshippers of idols and statues is cut off, and by which You make us among those who worshipped You truly and acknowledged Your Oneness, and did not associate with Your divinity any opponent or rival. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause us to descend to the stations of proximity and nearness, and by which You give us to drink from the wine of Your love, pure from bottles and jars ¹¹³, and by which You make us among those whom You have drawn to Your presence, and whom You have caused to roam in the gardens of Your contemplation, and whom You have brought near to the carpet of Your intimacy, earnestly. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You bring upon us glad tidings of joy and congratulations, and by which You honor us with abundant blessings and gifts of grace and favor, and by which You grant us from the treasuries of Your vast mercy a lawful ¹¹⁴, good, blessed sustenance, with no toil or hardship. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose secret permeates hearts and minds, whose mention is sweet in ears and hearing, and whose

The lover, upon hearing it, prostrates and extends a cheek of veneration and exaltation towards it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose merit encompasses the far and the near, whose benefit includes the distant and the present, and whose remembrance is adhered to by the people of litanies ¹¹⁵ in the morning and evening, so they never tire of repeating it nor see any deviation or escape from it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which You subjugate for us the limbs and bodies for Your worship, and through which You grant us success in what pleases You—our family, loved ones, and brothers—and through which You guide to the path of goodness those who have strayed from Your obedience, returning them back. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (54) a blessing through which You awaken the heedless and drowsy among us, and through which You guard us with the eye of Your care for the duration of ages and times, and through which You help us to occupy ourselves with Your service, and extend its blessing to us in our lifespan, extending it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which You relieve the distressed and the anguished among us, and through which You remove from us worries, griefs, and sorrows, and through which You suffice us against the evil of every deed that brings us a terrible matter and a grievous thing. Section: O Allah, bless him and his family with a blessing that, by the force of its secret, subdues everyone who intends to harm us and confronts us, and with the sword of its care cuts the jugular veins of everyone who oppresses and transgresses against us, and protects us from the evil of what we fear and are cautious of. O He who created creatures and counted them one by one, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Give me in the morning a coffee of love ¹¹⁶ whose fire blazes with flame and fuel, and repeat it, and drink with me in safety, and exceed the limit and fear no limit. Hot to the touch, yet its nature contains cold—amazing how opposites mix! Like the fire of the Friend ¹¹⁷ appeared as fire, yet for him it was coolness and peace. Those who say it has no benefit lie, for it is an aid in performing obligatory duties (55), and it dispels lethargy and laziness, and sleep for one who seeks wakefulness. Its benefit is confined to its drinker, but whoever blames its drinker has transgressed. O blamer who is severe about it, do not blame me, for I have reached the utmost. If you agree, then welcome; if you disagree, then place between us and you a barrier. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those for whom You have opened the doors of Your lordly mercy, and upon whom You have poured from the treasuries of Your bestowed secrets, a flow. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whom You have singled out for Your sovereign service, and brought near to You through supererogatory acts until You loved them, and thus You became their hearing, their sight, their foot, and their hand. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whom You have honored with the abundant favors of Your beneficence, and granted from the gifts of Your bounty a vast provision and a pleasant, wholesome life (56). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whom You have immersed in the perfections of Your solitary Essence, and drowned in the oceans of Your Oneness, so they turn not to other than You, and see none in existence with You. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whose secret has penetrated the unseen of their bodily identity, so Your love mingled with their flesh and blood, and Your remembrance became for them sustenance, spirit, and body. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whom You have led by the reins of guidance to Your all-Merciful presence, and thus made them worthy of Your obedience, and granted them support, success, and right guidance. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whom You have watched with the eye of Your eternal care, and protected by its blessing from the devils of jinn and mankind, and made its lights upon them as shooting stars and meteors to guard (57). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those upon whom You have bestowed the garments of Your complete well-being, and covered them with Your beautiful veil, and placed them in Your impregnable fortress whose wall is never breached. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whom You have gifted with the successive gifts of Your favors, and granted security in both abodes, so they fear no worry, no grief, and no distress. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those whom You have treated with the secret of Your healing verses, and repelled from them all apparent and hidden ailments, so they see no misery, no harm, and no sorrow. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those who have offered the praise of the Noble ¹¹⁸ as a gift to his illuminated and exalted precincts, and taken him as a means to Your pleasure, and as a provision they will find on the day of arrival before You as a treasure, a store, and a hand (58). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing through which we become among those to whom You have granted Your greatest pleasure in the abiding abode of Your honor, and encompassed them with Your pardon and forgiveness—family, companions, mother, father, and child. So bless him, O Allah, and his noble family, the martyrs, and his companions, the fortunate imams, with a blessing through which You have mercy on our brothers, loved ones, neighbors, and townspeople, and through which its blessing attends us at the questioning, the path, the balance, and in the standing ground tomorrow, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. By Allah, O seeker, never turn except to your Lord, and listen, and seek right guidance. Purify the heart from its other-than-Him, and persist in remembrance with diligence, you will find success and support. Oppose the ego, do not rely on its adornment, as much as you can, for the ego's command is not praiseworthy. It is ever commanding evil, by the wisdom of its control over the company of the fortunate. Whoever obeys his ego from the door of his Master will see himself banished—woe to the one who is banished!

How long will you dissimulate with outward deeds, while the heart, in its hardness, has stagnated from sincerity? And the mind is occupied with gathering wealth—has anyone ever seen it remain with those before him? Whoever busies himself with this world sees wonders of its cares and increasing, vexatious affliction. If he attains some of what he seeks, his liver burns; if fortune eludes him, he dies of grief. But whoever is ever occupied with God and relies upon the All-Merciful in all matters will triumph in all his desires with certainty, and the Truth will grant him a good, abundant life. Turn away from this world and its adornment through God, and do not strive for the shares of the lower self. Whatever of this world comes to you without effort, witness it as from Him—never does he fail who witnesses. Let not a people deceive you who appear in it as masters who have ever witnessed their Beloved. For these, even if they shine in their outward forms, their share has died away from the hopes of its people. The brides of the secrets of beauty have been unveiled to them; their character traits manifest before them and become apparent. And treat people with beautiful character, and you will attain a rank whose station in unveiling is praiseworthy. This is so, and there is no excuse for the one who stays far away, having known the place of visitation and the paths—woe to the one who has distanced himself! So arise to God and exit from other than Him, and associate none with God in what you seek. And make your greatest means to Him through Him, then through those whom He has favored with support among creation—those who reach the thresholds of His Presence and who are guides to the stations of witnessing. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have created with the character of Your compassion, and placed in their hearts mercy, tenderness, affection, and sympathy for Your servants. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have drawn to the carpet of Your Presence and snatched their spirits with the lights of Your divine witnessing, a snatching. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have distinguished with the perfection of Your regard and made them inhale the fragrant breezes of Your merciful perfume, a fragrance. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have adorned with the sash of Your protection, girded with the sword of Your victory, and subdued against them everyone who seeks them with evil, repelling his plot into his throat and causing the earth to swallow him, a swallowing. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have sheltered in Your side, entered into the sanctuary of Your inviolability, and made Your impregnable fortress for them as a security, a protection, a preventing wall, and a roof. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those through whom You have straightened the crookedness of Islam, supported them with the proofs of Your argument, and were for them against the distressing temporal events a secure refuge, a protective shelter, and a cave. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those whom the breezes of Your fragrance and the tenderness of Your mercy have caused to blossom, and whom You have led along the best paths, and made for them in all their affairs relief, a way out, and gentleness. O God, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which we become among those who have tucked up their robes for the vision of Your Ancient House and the visitation of Your Kaaba, strapped their mounts to its illuminated regions, and sped their camels to it, a speeding. So bless him, O God, and his family, the crescent moons, the full moons, and his noble companions, the foremost, a blessing by which You expand our breasts, fill for us registers and scrolls, multiply for us reward and wages, and double them for us in the abode of recompense, a doubling, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. The driver of the camels traverses the deserts harshly, his back worn out from seeking a harsh journey. Woe! Leave their urging, for they have grown weary; they will not be guided until they reach Tayyiba ¹¹⁹. You do not see them, even if pulled by their reins, out of yearning, racing the wind violently. Thus are the camels—how can the heart of a longing one be extinguished by anything but nearness? My patience is exhausted—and what patience for a lover whose heart ecstasy has snatched away? Passion has split his innards, a splitting; he is not healed except by the sanctuary of the Beloved. He spends the night listening: is there any informant about their abode? And the Pleiades have become an earring in his ears. Glad tidings came to him of reunion and said: "This is their abode, appearing and hidden. Rejoice, rejoice! Only a little remains, and you will see the sacred chamber and its description." He whose excellences have exalted him until the Truth raised a veil before his eyes—then he saw God openly, and for this he is unique, and the messengers after him are sufficient. The seal of the prophets, so he is the one followed, and others among all are the followers. What can we say in praise of him, even if we filled heaven and earth with scrolls? From him, the sun of forenoon kisses the clouds out of shyness, and the moon eclipses, an eclipse. Ahmad ¹²⁰ of creation, Ahmad of all creation, the sender of bounty with heavy-laden clouds. What are the clouds and the surging seas but a drop from his generosity—and God is more giving. Who for us, who for us, with what we have attained? We have scooped from his overflowing flood, a scooping. Who for us, who for us, with what we have reached? We have not torn apart from the meadow of his meeting a fragrance. Our fortune, our fortune—and who are we? But thus are the messengers with virtue, a virtue. Every time, every prophet wishes to seek nearness to his patron. We praise God that He has brought us to his sanctuary and we have drunk through him the purified Euphrates. O Giver of abundant gifts, we are delegations complaining to You of incapacity and weakness. Our poverty is abject, and You are Generous; through You, poverty is repelled from the one who hopes in You. Our sins have incapacitated us from high stations—a sickness; perhaps through Your bounty we will be healed. How often have we sought You while calamities were darknesses that dissipated, and You uncovered everything, an uncovering. How often have we called upon You, fearful of matters that bewildered us, and all of them we entrusted to You. We came to You upon mounts like mountains, and we found in the quickest time lightness. And we departed with the activity of security, blessing, and joy, speeding with expansion, a speeding. And the provision bag, with provisions filled, a grace from Him, a gift and a kindness. May the King reward you with the best reward for the weak who stood at your door in rows. Their return was fettered by sins, so for him is Your immediate forgiveness, pure. O Mighty of protection and station, reach out to a seeker of refuge who has come to you seeking favor. O Messenger of God, be for me, and for my companions, and for those who lagged behind, and for my family, my followers, my household, my loved ones, and those who fulfilled their covenant with you.

Would that I knew whether the beloved of my heart * Was of angelic attributes or human. The beauty of Joseph ¹²¹ is but a boy * When you recall the Ahmadine ¹²² beauty. Ahmad al-Mustafa ¹²³, who guided us * Since he came as a messenger on a straight path. He gave us the cup of guidance to the brim * And bestowed upon us a lofty tongue of truth. Never did he say no to a seeker of bounty * Who came asking for his prophetic generosity. And when he promises a gift, he fulfills * Indeed, his promise was ever to come. And when he decrees a matter * The command of Muhammad is decreed. The choicest of the worlds, more generous than one * Who came to his community as a messenger and prophet. The pearl of existences, the pole ¹²⁴ of high stations * He attained, when he journeyed ¹²⁵, a lofty station. When he prayed in the Mosque of Jerusalem ¹²⁶ by night * He was a noble imam for the prophets. When he prayed in the Mosque of Jerusalem by night * He was a noble imam for the prophets. He spoke to the Truth when he drew near and descended ¹²⁷ * And the light of his Lord, the Eternal, shone. How sweet was the discourse at the distance of two bows ¹²⁸ * When the Beloved was therein a chosen one. Al-Mustafa was called: "My beloved, come * To witness our Ahmadine secret. You are the secret of existence, O best of creation * Here is the secret of My solitary beauty. Draw near to Me; were it not for you, O secret of My secret * I would not have created the Throne ¹²⁹ nor the Footstool ¹³⁰." By Allah, you were the most beautiful of people in neck * And forehead, and crown, and face. If you pass by the road, people smell * Musk and ambergris scattered. You see his cheeks as fresh myrtle * And you see the cheeks as delightful roses. And you see him smiling like hailstones * The shining star feels shy. By you, O Mustafa, I asked my God * To grant me a pure boy. And a beautiful covering in this world and the next * And acceptance and an eternal refuge. And peace be upon you from the Holy Presence * That covers your sanctuary with fresh verdure. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that grants me thereby a soul longing for meeting You, and a spirit annihilated in Your love, and bestows upon me thereby a state pleasing to You, and an eye whose lid never ceases to flow with tears out of fear of You. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that gives me to drink thereby from the wine of Your love, sealed and overflowing, and bestows upon me thereby from the flood of Your gifts a special support and a lofty station on the carpet of Your presence. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that annihilates me thereby from my own purpose and provides me thereby with a heart empty of worldly distractions, and bestows upon me thereby Your abundant gift, comprehensive good, and lawful, wholesome, ample provision. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that expands thereby my breast and grants me thereby a heart containing the gifts of divine knowledge ¹³¹, and bestows upon me thereby a sound intellect and a sincere inspiration guiding to the path of goodness and right guidance. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that provides me thereby with an eye wakeful in Your pleasure and a side turning away from sleeping with the stars, and bestows upon me thereby a thought absent in the beauty of Your Essence and a state dwelling in the palaces of Your intimacy. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that makes me absent from myself in You and brings me thereby to the pure, clear springs of Your lordly love, and bestows upon me thereby with You a sincere certainty, a trusting faith, and a strong, manifest secret. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that saves me thereby from the gifts of Your secrets as a beneficial remedy and a healing antidote for heart diseases, and bestows upon me thereby from the garments of Your pardon and well-being a strong shield and a full, ample robe. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that presents me thereby from the grants of Your divine openings an abundant share and sufficient portion, and bestows upon me thereby an ear attentive to hearing Your address and a foot striving in Your obedience. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that grants me success thereby in Your service and makes me thereby a servant whose soul melts in satisfaction with Your decrees, and bestows upon me thereby a lordly support and an inspiration that forbids me from violating Your sanctities. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that returns me thereby from every sin that drives me away from Your door and makes me distant from the path of good, and bestows upon me thereby beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds that call me to the path of Your guidance. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that protects me thereby from disobeying You and grants me refuge from being a destroyer of the pillar of knowledge and truth and a builder of the pillar of ignorance, oppression, and corruption, and bestows upon me thereby deeds that bring me near to You and protect me from inclining and deviating from Your straight path, so that I do not disobey Your commands. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that guards me thereby with the eye of Your care and preserves me thereby from being a friend and ally to Your enemies, and bestows upon me thereby a decisive proof, a preventing wall, and a permanent veil that protects me from those who oppose You. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing that makes me inhale from the fragrance of his Ahmadine scent musk and perfumes, and bestows upon me thereby in his Ahmadine neighborhood lofty palaces and high chambers, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Peace, like the scent of musk, has come to you forbidding * I specify it for one who came to the remembrance attentive. And who acted upon what he delivered of admonition * And forbade the soul from what deserves blame. Perhaps the Lord of the Throne will forgive his sin * By the rank of a prophet who called to guidance. Listen then to the words of a sincere advisor * Who calls to good, if you answer the caller. I see life has passed, and death has a leap * For which the branch of hopes has become withered. So be a hero and prepare for it the best of gardens * You will be secure on a day you fear evils. And no garden is as fortified as prayer * By which the Merciful forgives what you have committed. By it the scrolls of deeds are erased as a favor * So you come with joyful eyes, attaining wishes. By it you reach hopes in the best of gardens * With the Beneficent, who ever manifests bounty. By it are degrees in the gardens, greatly exalted * So you attain therein the highest heights. By it people succeeded in their Lord's forgiveness * Though they were not seen committing sins. So He made them dwell in Gardens of Eden because * They called upon Him in prostration, forgiving what had passed.

So perform prayer abundantly with reverence ¹³², and present for it a heart free from occupation. That is my advice if you accept my counsel, and my reward with Allah I will meet in full. And from me upon the best of creation, Muhammad, be peace like the flowers of the meadow that have bloomed fragrantly. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that crowns us with the crown of awe and majesty, and pours upon us from the oceans of Your generosity the gifts of goodness and bounty. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that clothes us with the garments of veneration and exaltation, and draws us to the carpet of Your Presence ¹³³ and makes us through it among the people of intimacy and boldness ¹³⁴. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing whose glad tidings shine upon us with the flashes of joy and acceptance, and whose signs lead us to the paths of guidance and righteousness of deeds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that gifts us with the highest perfections and noblest traits, and elevates us through it to the stations of proximity ¹³⁵ and settles us in the abodes of the mighty among men. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that clothes us with the garments of splendor and perfection, and brightens our faces with the lights of beauty and comeliness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that grants us the ranks of nearness and connection, and opens before us the doors of entry into Your Presence and union ¹³⁶. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that makes us among the people of humility before You, supplication and entreaty, and dispels from our hearts, in knowledge of You, the darkness of doubt, illusion, and uncertainty. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that protects our minds from whisperings ¹³⁷, the confusion of madness and disorder, and saves us through it from the accidents of rejection, distance, disgrace, and calamity. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that heals our breasts from the darkness of ignorance and its chronic disease, and guards our feet from falling into slippery places of ambiguities and the abysses of error and misguidance. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that preserves us from an evil end in wealth, family, and dependents, and secures us from the greatest terror on the Day of Gathering, Resurrection, Presentation, and Questioning ¹³⁸. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that saves us from horrific trials, earthquakes, and terrors, and leads us through it on the paths of salvation, and treats us through it with Your hidden kindness in residence and travel. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, who are the best lineage and noblest house, and his Companions, the knights of battle and the lion-like heroes, a blessing whose kindness accompanies us in the present and the future, and whose benefit encompasses us in movements, stillness, and all states, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. My comfort is drinking the wine of the cup of coquetry from a gazelle in the land of Sal' ¹³⁹, a gazelle like me. Sweet to me is the passing of passion in his love; would that he relent with lawful union. From my majesty, lightning flashed over Abiraq ¹⁴⁰; the soul almost ended in majesty. The sea of tears does not subside in the Fur ¹⁴¹; rather, on my cheek its bubbles are like pearls. In the cloak of my existence, my ecstasy, my longing, my yearning, my infatuation, and my connection. O beauty of peace, travel swiftly and seek the dust of the door of the Pole of Beauty ¹⁴². My perfection is the secret of union; perhaps he will mend my deficiency with perfection. No limb of mine has ever been empty of his love, since he is never devoid of beautiful traits. My sight strayed in the night of your hair and the dawn; your countenance resolved my straying. Indeed, my state is the exhaustion of my patience by a glance; so my consolation from him is the essence of impossibility. My heart did not find solace from him; the strongest of men could not bear that. When passion folded the garment of my patience, I became enamored with praise in the long nights. My imagination from his rejection is nothing but ecstasy; then my imagination stood and tore it. I answered the blamer when he exaggerated: 'Indeed, this beloved is precious to me.' No light shone upon me in the Ghawr ¹⁴³ except that my body became cast down on those sands. No meeting from him continues for me except that my heart is hard and weak for my words. When Muhammad intended all good for me, is he not a beloved, the best of gifts? And my punishment of the enemy with force openly, so I felt secure through him from the vicissitudes of punishment. The sea of gifts from him did not forbid me from my watering place; rather, his watering place is my drink. And upon him be peace, as long as my emaciation continues with gifts and the flow of honey. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that grants us faith fit for presentation to You, and complete certainty with which we stand before You on the Day of Resurrection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that makes us through it from You and to You, and chooses us through it among those You have chosen, and brings us near in proximity to You. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that grants us knowledge by which we understand Your commands and prohibitions, and understanding by which we know how to address You with the tongue of supplication and humility and to whisper to You. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that grants us intellect by which we respond to Your caller, and etiquette by which we watch over You in all states and observe You. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our spirits stroll in the gardens of Your gnosis ¹⁴⁴ and gifts, and grants us security with which we fortify ourselves against the accidents of Your punishments and fears.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You overwhelm us with the downpours of Your mercies and affections, and by which You grant us a deed through which we attain the rank of success in Your witnessing places and stations. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You spread our remembrances in the enclosures of Your holiness, and by which You immerse our thoughts in the abodes of Your intimacy. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You protect us from the desolation of Your jinn and humans, and by which You grant us refuge from Your wrath, Your punishment, and Your impurity. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You raise our ranks upon the carpet of Your might, and by which You admit us into the precinct of Your security and protection ¹⁴⁵. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that leads us to the path of Your happiness and success, and by which You admit us into the precinct of Your circle and protection. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You erase from our hearts the trace of other than You, and by which You spread upon us the gifts of Your generosity and goodness. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You tear for us the veils of Your covering, and by which You honor us with the delight of Your intimate conversation and address. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You elevate us to the carpet of Your nearness and proximity, and by which You give us to drink from the nectar of the wine of Your love, delicious and sweet ¹⁴⁶. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You grant us success to act according to the requirements of Your Sunnah and Your Book, and by which You make us among those who stand at Your door and cling to Your thresholds. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and his family, a blessing by which one becomes among those who rely in his affairs upon You, and seek refuge in Your lofty rank and the might of Your presence, and who intercede with You through Your beloved, the Chosen One (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), for the forgiveness of his sins and the removal of his burdens in the courtyard of Your vastness, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You illuminate in our hearts the lights of Your guidance, and by which we become among the people of Your party and Your friendship. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You bestow upon us the secrets of Your care ¹⁴⁷, and by which You place us in Your preserved protection and safeguard. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You supply us with the succor of Your sufficiency, and by which You envelop us in the shelter of Your gentleness and care. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You seat us upon the thrones of Your might and sovereignty, and by which You make us among those who succeed in attaining Your pleasure and happiness. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You crown us with the crown of Your pride and glory, and by which we become among those who follow Your wisdom and will. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You expand our breasts with the gifts of Your knowledge and beneficence ¹⁴⁸, and by which You make us among those who uphold the rights of Your divinity and worship. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You enrich us with the beauty of Your vision and contemplation, and by which You interpose between us and the people of opposition and obstinacy towards You. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You bestow upon us the perfection of Your nearness and connection, and by which You honor us in the station of chosenness with Your conversation and speech. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and his family, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have granted the purest of Your love and sincerity of dealing with You, and whom You have provided with good manners in upholding Your rights, supplicating before You, and delighting in addressing You, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O my Master, You are Allah, my Lord, our God, and You are the God of the Throne, the Lord of the expanse. O my Master, grant me from Yourself uprightness and forgiveness, resolve for every sin. O my Master, grant me from Yourself uprightness towards You upon the path of the straight way ¹⁴⁹. O my Master, grant me from Yourself uprightness before You upon the ways of noble souls. O my Master, grant me from Yourself uprightness upon the Sunnah of the Chosen One, for me and my brothers, in words, deeds, and our belief, with sound knowledge undefiled by innovation. O my Master, increase me, then increase me, by Your favor, for You are Possessor of great bounty and mercy. Send blessings and peace, pure and continuous, upon Ahmad, the guide, without end, and upon his wives, his companions, his lovers, and his family, with beneficence until the Day of Resurrection. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flows upon our tongues that which benefits the listener, and for which tears flow from the eyes. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flows upon our tongues that which makes hearts humble, and by which wishes and the ultimate goal are attained ¹⁵⁰. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flows upon our tongues that by which the wayfarer and the attracted one express themselves, and by which the recited and the overcome are moved. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flows upon our tongues that by which the lover and the beloved draw near, and by whose sweetness the eaten and the drunk become pleasant. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flows upon our tongues that by which the distressed and the afflicted seek aid, and by which the greatest of hardships and calamities are repelled.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, benefiting both the noble and the lowly, and nourishing the weaned and the infant ¹⁵¹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, with which the sick and the pained are treated, and the sleeping and the reclining ¹⁵² awaken from their heedlessness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the breast is expanded with swift relief and victory, and which brings down showers of mercy and the outpouring of abundant rain. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, at the hearing of which the passionate lover ¹⁵³ and the prostrate devotee ¹⁵⁴ are enraptured, and the jewels of its words surpass eloquent speech and novel expression. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the disobedient and the obedient are shown mercy, and the dreadful calamity and terrible affair are dispelled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which You protect us from uttering obscenity and foul speech, and by which You admit us into Your inviolable sanctuary ¹⁵⁵ and the fortress of Your mighty honor. So bless him and his family, O Allah, with a blessing that You accept from me as a gift for his lofty and exalted station, and make it for us a treasure that we find with him as the noblest means and greatest intercessor, 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 that flows upon our tongues, by which the student and the disciple ¹⁵⁶ benefit, and the erring and the rebellious are subdued. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the insight of the intelligent and the dull is opened, and its blessing returns upon the parent, the grandchild, and the newborn. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the near and the far seek blessing, and its grace encompasses the wretched and the fortunate. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which praise and hymn are made pleasant, and the divinely guided and the rightly guided incline to hear it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the lover and the beloved benefit, and the skilled and the intelligent understand its indication. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the mistaken and the correct are guided by its light, and the fearful of his Lord and the penitent seek intercession through it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the modest and the cultured ascend, and its secret permeates the preacher and the orator. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, whose hearing is comprehended by the noble and the excellent, and by which the supplicant and the responder are blessed in fulfilling their needs. So bless him and his family, O Allah, with a blessing by which You open for us the imminent victory ¹⁵⁷ and through which You purify from us, in love of him, the faith of the doubter and the skeptic, and make it for us a protection from the heat of a blazing fire and its intense, scorching flame, 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 that flows upon our tongues, by which the heedless and the negligent remember, and the high and the low ascend. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the rising and the setting ¹⁵⁸ shine, and the departing and the returning seek protection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the scholar and the ignorant are admonished, and the forgetful and the bewildered awaken. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the arm and the shoulder ¹⁵⁹ are strengthened, and the speaker and the neighing ¹⁶⁰ are facilitated. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the intelligent and the rational are disciplined, and the writer and the transmitter rely upon it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the pious and the active adopt a school ¹⁶¹, and through its mention the famous and the obscure become known. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the deficient and the perfect are adorned with its ornament, and the seeker and the hopeful attain its blessing. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the near and the connected ¹⁶² reap its fruit, and the visitor and the constant ¹⁶³ gain its grace. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the inferior and the superior are honored, and the defender and the fighter rely upon it. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the empty and the idle are adorned, and the clouds of divine mercy are sought through it.

Of mercies and the downpour of generous rain. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which truth is established and falsehood is nullified, and by which the debt of the destitute and the insolent debtor is paid off. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which nursing mothers and pregnant women are revived, and by which protection is sought from corrupting afflictions, so that harmful factors do not affect them. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the coward and the brave are emboldened, and by which the negligent and the lazy rise to the path of goodness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (97), a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the tongue of the slanderer and the blamer is cut off, and by which the hand of the generous and the giver is extended in generosity. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the one who goes out and the one who enters take a good omen, and by which the life of the resident and the visitor becomes pleasant. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the rider and the pedestrian find comfort, and by which the terror of the one who stays in the immediate and the future is calmed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the deprived and the beggar are made happy, and by which the outpouring of heavy rain and flowing rain is brought down. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (98), a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which supplications and means are opened, and by which needs and requests are fulfilled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which assemblies and tribes boast, and by which great hardships and terrifying matters are repelled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which proofs and evidences are established, and by which wealth, sanctities, and lawful spouses are protected. Section: O Allah, bless him and his family with a blessing whose blessing encompasses the later and the earlier, and by which You lift our concern from the transient goods of this world and its fleeting allure, and by which You make us among those who are immersed in Your love and enraptured by Your remembrance in the mornings and evenings, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. So I say: Ahmad is better than anyone who trod the earth; there is no one like him in the worlds. The treasure of gifts and virtues is his essence; who is like Ahmad, encompassing all perfections? (99) How noble is he, Ahmad and Muhammad; the pebbles greeted him with peace. He is the seal of the noble messengers, their imam; a Lord above all has majestic attributes. Allah singled him out with every virtue; who is like him in virtue, and he is the most virtuous? He is the possessor of sovereignty, the pole of the prophets; from his two hands virtues encompassed them all. Allah honored him, so honor his creation; whose hand is the flood, ever-flowing. Who is like Ahmad among the generous and the munificent? And his door is the recourse of the prophets. How many a nursing mother, by the Beloved's hand wiping her breast, became full of milk after that. How many a need did the Beloved remove from people, especially the Aleppan, who was the asker. May Allah, whose majesty is exalted, bless him, and the family and companions who are perfect. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the dull and the intelligent insight are illuminated, and by which the pure and righteous inner self is purified from the impurities of intention. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (100), a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the chaste and the pious hold fast, and on which the fearful and the God-fearing rely. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the weak and the strong seek refuge, and by which the wicked and the misguided are deterred. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, which the poor and the rich need, and with which the generous and the munificent are content. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, to which the intimate and the sincere incline, and by which the goal of the truthful and the loyal is attained. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (101), a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the inner and the hidden are revealed, and by which the state of the good is distinguished from the bad. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which You give us to drink from the fullest cup of the supply of his delightful secret, and by which You honor us with the vision of his luminous and radiant face, and by which You make us inhale the fragrance of his fragrant and blooming flower, 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 that flows upon our tongues, by which intention and belief are corrected, and by which harshness, objection, and criticism fall away. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the innermost heart and the heart are illuminated, and by which the aim is perfected and the desired is completed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (102), a blessing

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which souls and bodies are refreshed, and by which wealth, spouses, and children are set aright. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which remembrances ¹⁶⁴ and litanies ¹⁶⁵ become pleasant, and by which supply and replenishment ¹⁶⁶ are multiplied. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which longing and affection grow, and by which denial, rejection, and obstinacy are dispelled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which pilgrimage and struggle ¹⁶⁷ are desired, and by which the distances of the journey to Allah and of separation are traversed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which hearts are kept safe from belief in indwelling ¹⁶⁸ and union ¹⁶⁹, and by which they are delivered from causes of doubt and from the sayings of polytheism and atheism. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which regions, climes, and lands are preserved, and by which hearts, limbs, and servants are expanded. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which visitors, guests, and comers are comforted, and by which ascetics ¹⁷⁰ and worshippers are solaced in their seclusions. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which delegations and seekers benefit from its blessing, and by which aggressors, enemies, and enviers are repelled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which wakefulness and witnessing ¹⁷¹ become sweet in Your love, and by which slumber and sleep are driven from the eyelids. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which bells and pegs ¹⁷² intercede for needs, and by which the poles ¹⁷³ and the solitary ones ¹⁷⁴ act in the world of existence. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which the faces of fathers and forefathers beam among the righteous, and by which Arabs, non-Arabs, Turks, and Kurds submit. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which armies and troops are defeated, and by which worries, sorrows, and hardships are relieved. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which remembrances are adorned like pearls adorning necks, and by which lovers find ecstasy ¹⁷⁵ in its repetition during seasons and festivals. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, which the dweller and the nomad find sweet, and whose hearing is deemed good in villages, cities, the tribe, and the assembly. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which praise and chanting become pleasant, and by which lovers come to its fountain in issuing and returning. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which our faces become white on the Day of Gathering and Calling ¹⁷⁶, and which we find as provision on the Day when secrets are tested and witnesses stand, by Your bounty and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O master of intercessors, O he on whom my reliance is incumbent, O purest of creation, O Imam through whom from God to servants, By you the six directions were honored when you rose above the seven firmaments, And your nearness to God is like two bow-lengths or nearer, O noble steeds. I have sought the court of your might, hoping for your hospitality, so grant it, O Possessor of bounties. I have prepared praise for you, that perhaps on the couches of Paradise I may see my resting place. How often have I dived into the sea of your generosity until I obtained a necklace of choice pearls. From the pure gold of your description I have fashioned praise that, by what it contains, is beyond criticism. There is no deficiency in the scale of my poetry, nor is my merchandise in your station unsold. How many sayings do I have about your attributes that delight with every acquired meaning! So expiate by my praise of you what I have committed, and by Your generosity protect my heart. Here I am, a guest, a newcomer, I have come to your sanctuary without provision. Even if I drown in the sea of sins, through you I hope for my salvation in the Hereafter. Your favor is the limit of my hope and my request, my treasure, my reliance, and my support. Upon you be the blessing of your Lord with peace, specially for you in growth and increase, And upon your Companions, as long as a caravan travels to the land of Hijaz, and as long as a driver urges the camels. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which desires are attained, and to which beloved ones yearn. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, to which riding camels bow, and from the flashes of whose secret wonders and marvels appear. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which battalions are terrified, and by which hardship and calamities are removed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues, by which impurities are purged, and by which distressing events and misfortunes are unveiled.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, raising ranks, and filling mosques and offices. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, attaining desires, and easing hardships and fatigues. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, honoring occasions, and purifying times and earnings. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, sweetening drinks, and facilitating needs and aims. ¹⁷⁷ O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, acquiring virtues, and commending matters and outcomes. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, purifying doctrines, and increasing openings and gifts. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, illuminating processions, and crowding the eminent to hear it shoulder to shoulder. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, making distant and near ones boast, and inclining non-Arabs and Arabs towards it. ¹⁷⁸ So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that preserves us from perils and disasters, and returns us from the change of well-being and its replacement with ingratitude for blessings and severity of hardships, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O delight of the eye, how I watch for the vanguards of affection in outcomes. How often I spend the night watching for the meeting, while my eye converses with the horizon and the stars, and tears flow on my cheeks like the flow of morning rains on deserts. And my heart trembles with fear of rejection, like the trembling of one threatened with swords. O morning breeze, tell me: have you come from the abode of the beloved? So that the mouth may be satiated with kissing you, and the heart may rejoice in attaining desires. For whoever tends to a beloved, it is as if he were not absent. O delight of the eye, O my beloved, O my portion of gifts. O delight of the eye, O my refuge, O my cure from troubles. O delight of the eye, O my guide when I am bewildered in doctrines. O delight of the eye, O my healing, O my covering from faults. O delight of the eye, O my life, O my salvation from calamities. O delight of the eye, O my protector, O my helper against hardships. ¹⁷⁹ O greatest in rank and excellences over the people of virtue and merits. O most generous of messengers since he appeared, he manifested wondrous miracles. Muhammad, the rising place of congratulations, has brought obligations and desirable acts. Above the prophets, his rank is exalted, that is among the highest stations. You are the one for whom every soul is sacrificed, you are the one blessed for every seeker. You are the one favored with every meaning, approved from the gardens of the right. You are the one adorned with every attribute of the highest and purest qualities. Upon you be the purest blessings continuously, and upon all the family and every companion, as long as the yearning one chants the meaning: O delight of the eye, how I watch. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, rectifying states, and purifying acts of obedience and deeds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, making words wholesome, ¹⁸⁰ and improving natures and actions. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, increasing wealth, and its flow extends in veins and joints. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, defeating champions, and securing souls from fear and terrors. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, manifesting its blessing upon free men and clients, and overflowing upon the beloved with seas of generosity and giving. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, humbling the mighty among men ¹⁸¹ and silencing with its proof the arguments of the people of disputation and contention. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, attaining ranks of high stations, and reaching degrees of proximity and union. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, delighting faces with radiance and beauty, and clothing hearts with robes of loyalty and perfection. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, dispelling terrors, and lightening hardships and burdens. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that settles us in the stations of the poles and substitutes ¹⁸² and makes us among the servants of his station, surrounded by veneration and glorification, and treats us with Your hidden kindness in movements and stillness, and all states, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, perfecting faith, and multiplying certainty and excellence. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which it flows upon our tongues, increasing faith, and multiplying certainty and excellence.

By which flows upon our tongues that which brings about contentment and divine pleasure, and by which the gifts of grace and favor increase. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which the worshippers and monks use for night vigil, and by which the warriors and the brave seek aid. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which awakens the heedless and the drowsy, and by which the state of the enraptured and the bewildered is calmed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which the limbs and bodies find repose, and at whose meaning hearts and minds are astounded. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which the great and the eminent are honored, and by which realities and essences are transformed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which hearts and ears listen to, and by which souls are tranquil and eyes are delighted. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which expands the breast and the heart, and by which the gardens of holiness and paradise are adorned. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which delights the people of eloquence and clarity, and illuminates the insights of the people of witnessing and direct vision. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which brings blessing and security, and by which time and season are made felicitous. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which revives the sleeper and the intoxicated, and by which the inebriated and the exhilarated are delighted. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which perfumes the fragrances and the sleeves, and by whose radiance the worlds and the universes are illuminated. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing whose breezes bestow upon us spirit and fragrance, and whose fragrant gusts of blessing encompass us in secret and in public, and grant us thereby in the abode of Your honor what no eye has seen nor ear heard, of adorned chambers, bliss, houris, and servant boys, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Muhammad, the Chosen, the Praised, his station is on the Day of Intercession among humans and jinn. Were it not for intercession, his distinction would not be known before God tomorrow among his peers. O Master of the Messengers, O Secret of Existence, O Treasure of Congratulations for us, O Essence of Essences. O most perfect of creation in form and character, O most elevated of people in rank and status. I am the servant who praises you, though the noble masters have not fulfilled the right of servants. If I have fallen short, then beneficence is your nature, and the custom of the Arabs is to forgive the offender. Upon you be the purest blessings of Allah, fragrant, as long as the breeze touches the crowns of basil. And upon the family, companions, and followers all, as long as the sleeves of branches sway the meadow of tamarisk. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which the white and the black submit to, and by which the nose of the enemy and the envious is rubbed in the dust. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which kings and nobles yield to, and to whose hearing everyone who is honored and noble listens. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which fulfills promises, and by which covenants and pledges are fulfilled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which existence rejoices at, and by which the treasuries of generosity and munificence are opened. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which makes the arrival pleasant, and by which sleeves and garments are perfumed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which armies and troops triumph by, and by which the banners of victory and standards flutter. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which establishes judgments and legal limits, and by which genera, species, divisions, and definitions are known. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which unlocks locks and shackles, and by which reports, texts, and restrictions are liberated. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which cheeks and faces rejoice at, and at whose hearing forms and figures sway. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which perfects faith and covenants, and by which the fire of severe blazing trials is extinguished. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that which tongues utter in standing and sitting, and by which the storms of winds, lightning, and thunder are calmed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues that whose glad tidings shine with joy and felicity, and whose signs appear to the people of insight and certainty.

Ascension and elevation. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what draws near in bowing and prostration, and whose lights shine upon the lowlands, valleys, and highlands. ¹²¹ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what infants in laps and cradles sing, and whose meaning the people of watchfulness and witnessing ¹⁸³ comprehend. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what deters the people of denial and rejection, and delivers from the flood of death, the horror of the grave, and the darkness of tombs. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what makes hearts and skins shudder, and grants its reciter the triumph of the highest ranks in the abode of honor and eternity. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what reunites the absent and lost, and heals the illness of the sick, the bewitched, and the bound. ¹²² So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You give us to drink the fullest cup from his delightful, abundant pool, and by which You spread over us in the standing ¹⁸⁴ the banner of his bound glory, and make us by it in his fortified fortress and his ample extended shade, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. My passion in your love is ancient yet new, * Patience diminishes and passion increases. Between death and hope I am stationed, * By a promise whose nearness is far and a threat. I fear separation, in which my life is spent * Forever, and I hope for nearness, though it is far. Alas for one who loves the Beloved and His union, * While a watcher from his passion is ever ready. He goes forth, his tears flowing freely, * While his heart is bound from what it seeks. O dweller in a heart moved by passion, * In whom afflictions have grown, so it is reaped. O one whose beauty has possessed every heart, * So all the worlds are His servants. In every eye of Your beauty is a witness, * And for every heart of Your highness are witnesses. So You have become unique in Your passion, just as * In beauty You are singular and peerless. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what makes good the beginning and the end, ¹²³ and by which protection and adherence are attained. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what brings about gathering and harmony, and increases devotion to obedience and commitment. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what brings to the people of goodness piety and respect, and brings upon the people of transgression and oppression affliction and retribution. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what increases care and concern, and removes the whisper of insinuation and the knock of madness and confusion. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what bequeaths modesty and bashfulness, ¹²⁴ and erases the pages of sins, misdeeds, and crimes. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You urge us to venerate his noble station and respect, and make us by it among the triumphant through the blessing of blessing him, attaining from His pleasure the degree of success and gain, 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 by which our tongues flow with what baffles thoughts and understandings, and by which doubts and illusions are lifted from the eyes of insights. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what those of intellects and dreams are incapable of comprehending, and by which one is fortified against evil imaginations and dreams. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what the inkwell and pens cannot suffice to write, ¹²⁵ and whose preservation reports and eminent scholars cannot encompass. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what renews faith and submission, and facilitates compliance with Your obedience and surrender. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what we follow the imams of Islam, and by which the might of the people of divination, idols, and arrows is subdued. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what commands and judgments are executed, and to which princes, governors, and rulers submit. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what distinguishes the lawful from the unlawful, and inspires longing to visit the noble grave and the sacred House. ¹²⁶ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what elevates rank and station, and whose reward multiplies in the abode of honor and station. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which our tongues flow with what repels harmful accidents and ailments, and wards off the calamities of time and the events of nights and days.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, supplications are answered, and by which the clouds are sought for rain, and by which all creatures hasten to him and are led to him without a rein. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, wild beasts, birds, and creeping things benefit from its blessing, and by which the hungry are fed, and by which the thirsty from among the parched are quenched. (127) O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, assistance is sought for standing (in prayer) and fasting, and by which the arrows of his supplications travel against the people of oppression in the darkness of the night while people are asleep. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, speech and discourse are made sweet, and by which intimate conversation, greetings, and salutations become pleasant. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, its excellence appears upon the elite and the commoners, and by which its secret overflows through the passage of time and the length of eternity. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and upon his noble, generous family, and upon his Companions, the stars of guidance and the lamps of darkness, a blessing by which You cause us to attain, through Your pleasure and his pleasure, the ultimate goal and aspiration, and by which You shelter us in his impregnable shelter and his fortress that cannot be assailed, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. (128) The aspiration of the lovers is the meeting of Taha (Muhammad) * And that, with them, is the highest aspiration. To him belongs, from "the distance of two bows' lengths" (Quran 53:9), the high stations * And the gathering of all things in the highest station. Through his vision of our Lord, face to face * And through intimate conversation, he was blessed with speech. He descended alone and drew near to Him * And he gained from the gifts by acquisition. And the Majestic One called to him, "I am closer to us" * As the Friend (Abraham) draws near without cessation. And take from Us the gifts without limit * For We are not to be compared to the generous. The call of the generous is confined by limits * Other than Me, for the sea of My bounty is ever overflowing. Thus the Chosen One (al-Mustafa) obtained from Him his desires * And he returned to the sanctuary of the sacred land. And in Mecca, there was a stone, when * The Chosen One (al-Mukhtar) would tend it, it would speak with greetings. And every created thing, its life openly * When it met him, it hastened with concern. All the worlds of the two realms (this world and the next) therein * The Messenger of Allah commands with authority. To him the spirits prostrated in the unseen * And they bound themselves to the Beloved in service. So honor him, the Generous One, with every good * For all good is from him eternally. And we conclude with blessings upon him immediately * And upon the high ones with his noble Companions. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing (129) by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the dead and the living benefit, and by which the species, the group, and the living seek blessing. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, knots, ties, and twists are undone, and by which, in the deserts of love, spreading and folding are magnified. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, beneficial rain and irrigation are brought down, and by which the earth becomes, adorning itself in the most joyful garment and the most beautiful attire. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and upon his family, the nobles of the Banu Hashim and Quṣayy, and upon his Companions, the best of the Banu Ghālib, Fihr, and Lu'ayy, a blessing by which You save us from the abysses of ruin, misguidance, and error, and by which You have mercy on my family, my relatives, my loved ones, and those who are affiliated with me, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Ahmad, the Guide, the Messenger, the Chosen One * The elite of the Most Merciful from the family of Quṣayy. The best of those sent with the best of remembrance, from * The best of those attributed to Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy. (130) How many times He guided us to piety after blindness * And called us to guidance after error. He spread the religion, by him its banners * And his blessings folded up (the generosity of) Hatim of Tayy. O Messenger of Allah, O you whose remembrance Revives the soul and quenches the heart's thirst. O intercessor of creation, be for me when No one from my parents avails me. And suffice me on the day when nothing profits Except what you have placed before me. And Allah has bestowed upon you, as a favor, An eternal blessing and peace. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the weak and the strong seek refuge, and by which souls are saved from the trials of time and the plots of the erring Iblis (Satan). O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the poor and the rich take refuge, and by which the ignorant, the misguided, and the foolish are guided. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad (131) a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the dull-witted and the intelligent understand, and by which the lover, the sincere one, and the pure one remember. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the near and the far are adorned, and by which the ambition of the miserly, the stingy, and the generous is sent forth towards noble deeds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the righteous and the saint (walī) are pleased, and by which the near-stationed (muqarrab), the pious (taqī), and the pure (ṣafī) acquire character. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the deprived and the wretched are distanced from our presence, and by which the beloved, the pure, and the clean among us worship. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad (132) a blessing by which, as it flows upon our tongues, the destitute and the wealthy are satisfied, and by which the ambiguous, the hidden, and the clear become evident. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing

By which there flow upon our tongues that by which the swift and the slow are led to Your obedience, and by which the accepted and the well-pleasing hasten to answer Your call. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the sorrowful and the grieving rejoice, and by which the fortunate and the saved attain Your good pleasure. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You quench us from the overflowing abundance of his delightful supply ¹⁸⁵, and by which You bestow upon us the vision of his beautiful, radiant face, and by which You grant us the morning and evening breezes of his spiritual effusions ¹⁸⁶, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. From me, my heart is Your praise and the oft-repeated verses ¹⁸⁷; and one like me is worthy of praise. I asked You, my Master, for a near joy, that my life of ease may flourish. To You is my means, O my Beloved, and the delight of my eye, the Guide, the Prophet ¹⁸⁸. A beloved in the air, when he ascended, for him above desire is the straight path. He ascended alone, and how in the high stations is this ascent for all the prophets? Upon him be our blessings, and upon all his family and companions, who have a pleasing path. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which aspirations rise, and by which covenants are preserved. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which nations are made happy, and by which sanctuaries are venerated. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which wisdoms are granted, and by which rains pour down. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which blessings increase, and by which afflictions are repelled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the doors of generosity are opened, and by which supplications are answered in the state of travel and residence ¹⁸⁹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which its secret appears in the inkwell and the pen, and by which ailments, sickness, and pain are treated. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which oaths are fulfilled, and by which souls and spirits revive. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which deafness is cured, and by which blindness and muteness are healed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the foot is established in the enclosures of intimacy ¹⁹⁰, and by which a person is preserved from existence to non-existence. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the rememberer ¹⁹¹ is fortified against creation and nations, and its blessing appears upon the one who sends blessings upon him like the appearance of a fire of hospitality at night upon a landmark. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which its benefit encompasses patrons and servants, and by which relatives, companions, and household are honored. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the one who mocks and insults is suppressed, and by which the one who divulges what is in his conscience of evil deeds and conceals is deterred. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You forgive us the sins we have committed in the time of youth and after old age and decrepitude, and by which You give us in this world and the next a station that has not been attained nor sought, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Ahmad ¹⁹², the Guide, the Bringer of Glad Tidings, the Intercessor for creatures, the Remover of distresses. Ta Ha ¹⁹³, Ya Sin ¹⁹⁴, the Trustworthy came; his praise is in Nun ¹⁹⁵ and the Pen ¹⁹⁶. The Gatherer of manifest virtue, the Imam of gifts, the Qibla ¹⁹⁷ of generosity. Allah the Magnificent swore by him and granted him the most abundant portion. Until he said: O Messenger of Allah, be for one distressed, burning with the flame of longing. He never ceases to shed tears, between a flowing source and a streaming one. Every year he is afflicted with a sorrow, dwelling among the dwellers of tents. You are my honor among people, my treasure, and what a patron and refuge! And my intercessor on the Day of Resurrection from the heat of the fire of misery and punishment. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which realities and sciences grow, and by which gifts and understandings follow in succession. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which institutions and traditions come to life, and by which scrolls and inscriptions rejoice. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which terrors and worries are relieved, and by which troubles, sorrows, and griefs are dispelled. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the vanquished and the oppressed are aided, and by which the sick, the ill, and the wounded are treated. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the servant and the master are honored, and by which the obscure, the eminent, and the known become manifest. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which there flow upon our tongues that by which the one stung and poisoned is treated, and by which the pained and the sick are charmed ¹⁹⁸.

And the feverish one. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what the infant and the weaned one are nourished, and by which the scattered and composed praises are deemed beautiful. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what the tasted and the smelled are perfumed, and by which the drunk and the eaten become pleasant. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what the hidden and the concealed become clear, and by which the perishing and the non-existent are revived. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing we find at the end of life and the completion of the decreed term, and by which we quench ourselves from the Salsabil ¹⁹⁹ of his pond ²⁰⁰ that is visited and the sealed nectar of his Kawthar ²⁰¹, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. To you belongs the creation that encompasses all creatures ❖ And it is right for the likes of you, the great creation To you belongs the revelation, a miracle and pride ❖ By which we abrogated the laws and sciences And you, living by it, the creatures live ❖ And the widows and orphans are revived I have made you, O Messenger of Allah, my wealth ❖ And my hope when the creditor comes O treasure of the destitute, forgive my stumbling ❖ For I am Your servant, the penniless destitute I have wasted my life, no righteous deed ❖ By which I succeed, nor a sound heart I openly commit ugly deeds before the One who sees me ❖ And I hide the sin, while He knows it And I have no treasure, O Messenger of Allah, ❖ To seek refuge in other than you, nor any necessity So be the hand of my victory and the security of my fear ❖ And by your rank, grant me what I seek Upon you be the blessings of your Lord as long as the doves coo ❖ In the thicket or the birds sing O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what its indication is pleasing in hearts, and its expression sweet on tongues. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what gladdens the lover with its good news, and benefits the beloved with its warning. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what its authority endures for the people of tasrif ²⁰², and its visitation is beneficial for the people of ta'rif ²⁰³. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what its trade thrives for the people of righteousness, and its cultivation is good for the people of success. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what its sign appears to the people of suluk ²⁰⁴, and its lighthouse guides the elite of the near ones to the path of rectitude. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which his visitation benefits the masters of spiritual states, and his illumination shines in the innermost secrets of those possessing clear unveilings, 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 by which flows upon our tongues what purifies thoughts and souls, and his remembrance abides in the folds of notebooks and scrolls. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what necks and heads bow to, and by which cups and goblets circulate among lovers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what branches and seedlings bear fruit, and by which the rememberer is consoled from the companion and the bride. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what the lover utters in standing and sitting, and by which ill omen and misfortune depart from the wayfarer on the path of the folk. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what illuminates graves and tombs, and by which the difficult, the stubborn, and the recalcitrant become easy. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what expands despair and frowning, and by which worry, grief, harm, and misery vanish. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what the leader and the led submit to, and by which the imprisoned and the captive are released. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which You unveil for us the intricacies of the spiritual and sensory matter, and by which You ease for us what is difficult of the greatest hardships and the inverted thing, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. We are sitting in the presence of God And cups have circulated around us with effusion What a presence, pure and fragrant, Its scent is the aromatic perfume of souls God has brought forth its light in the heaven Of glory, a full moon before which suns set It was unveiled in the witnessing of intimacy from it With the robes of beauty, a virgin bride By the manifestation of her beauty, happiness was joined And the misfortunes of deprivation departed By an oath, if she strutted, even the lands of the grave Being dead, the buried would be revived Her intellect bewilders the forbearing, and why not? And the Revealer of her beauty is the Holy One Our tears are freely shed before her, and in Her love, our heart is imprisoned Her abode is radiant, so who is there For you in her abode? We found it familiar In it, for nearness, gardens have blossomed And for hopes, seedlings have flourished May we never cease from her abode, and upon us Every grace by her generosity is protected O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which flows upon our tongues what we begin with the means of opening and commencement, and by which You bestow upon the rememberer the fragrant breezes of spirit and comfort.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ¹⁴⁴ a blessing that flows upon our tongues as the masters of litanies ²⁰⁵ mention it in the evening and morning, and whose light shines upon the hearts of lovers and the brightness of radiant faces. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as the birds of lovers warble upon the pulpits of branches and twigs, and whose fragrant amber and musk diffuse in the assemblies of those who remember. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as it attracts spoils and profits, and spirits and bodies find repose in the fragrance of its breeze. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as the glad tidings of good enter upon the lovers at dawn and dusk, and whose fame spreads across regions, directions, and all sides. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as the forms of yearning ones ²⁰⁶ tremble at hearing it during festivals and joys ¹⁴⁵, and by whose blessing various worries and sorrows depart from the despairing. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as the hearts of yearning ones fly to it without wings, and the masters of ecstatic states ²⁰⁷ cast off restraint upon hearing it, and no blame is upon them. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as its collections ²⁰⁸ are spread among the people of goodness and righteousness, and its streams flow upon the gardens of lovers and the people of success and prosperity. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as its chains of transmission are taken from transmitted traditions and authentic books, and whose eloquence surpasses the masters of rhetoric and eloquence and the people of fluent tongues. So bless him, O Allah, and his noble, beautiful family, and his companions, lions of battle and knights of struggle, a blessing that suffices us against the evil of the envious, the slanderer, and the blamer, and protects us from those who seek to harm us and desire to disgrace and expose us ¹⁴⁶. By Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. I tried to conceal passion, but my disgrace increased; no blame upon me if I am with it. And through my whole being, passion coursed from a Beloved, as life courses through bodies. And it became manifest, dwelling in my heart, judging with beauty over spirits. Let it do what it wills with my heart, for it is my basil, my soul, and my repose. Through it I came to know, not through other than it; and by it I am tasked, not by beautiful ones. The nourishment of hearts is only His love; every heart He does not inhabit is in ruin. Sweet to me in His love is a rapture, my intoxication; and with the turning of His love, my morning draught is pleasant. From the aged wine He gave me to drink, in His love, from clinking cups. So I swayed between longing and being driven to love, like the swaying of spirits. Ask the passing of the breeze at dawn about His qualities and the delicacy of my body. O my blamer, leave me with my love and my heart; the fire of my passion is still kindled. Do not say, "Torment my heart with aversion," for the Beloved's form is my well-being. I could not bear a glance at the face of the Beloved, which clothed the sun in the garment of shame. And the crescents and full moons prostrate towards the Kaaba of His radiant face. His beauty enslaved hearts, so the souls of the miserly became cheap in love of His beauty. In His pleasure, the torment of my heart is sweet, and affliction is my paradise and the shackle of my freedom ¹⁴⁷. Happy are the infatuated ones in Him, for they have vanished from existence into pure annihilation. They headed towards His beauty with heart and intellect, and drank from Him with spirits. Far be it from Allah that they should permit a heart to be heedless of His lamp-like beauty. They possessed the reins of spirit, wealth, and heart, in love of Him, in joy. He who is intoxicated by His beauty remains in ecstasy, and takes union from the hand of the Opener ²⁰⁹. Upon him be blessings as long as a lover is infatuated with him, along with his family and beautiful companions. Clouds of raining mercies, fragrant breezes of blooming flowers, spreading and manifest breezes of blessings, and springs of secrets flowing from the treasuries of dazzling kingdomly gifts ²¹⁰ upon pure prophetic spirits, radiant luminous bodies, beaming faces looking towards their Lord, eyes that spend the night in obedience, asleep and awake, tongues praising and thanking Him with beautiful praise, uttering and remembering His favors and recounting His blessings, and hearts seeking to attract the wafts of His mercy, asking for pardon and well-being ¹⁴⁸ and continuous contentment, acceptance, and happiness of life in this world and the Hereafter. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as it pleases You and pleases Your beloved, the chosen one, the spirit of spirits, the repose of comfort, the feast of joy and happiness, and the key to every lock for which no key is found. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as it pleases You and pleases Your chosen prophet, the opener of means and beginnings, the station of expansion, delight, and joy, the mine of pardon, generosity, and forbearance, and the light by which the eminent leaders and noble ones are guided. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as it pleases You and pleases Your approved messenger ¹⁴⁹, the breeze of the morning rose, the brightness of radiant faces, the musk of collars, fragrant and diffusing, the rising place of the sun of prophethood and messengership, and the brilliant star of happiness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues as it pleases You and pleases Your beloved, the cultivation of hearts and bodies, the treasure of gifts, wealth, and profits, the flower of gardens and meadows, and the lamp of gnoses and spiritual gifts ²¹¹, whose light suffices without morning or lamp. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing whose mercy envelops us at dawn and dusk, and whose lights guide us to the path of rectitude, goodness, and success, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds.

Yes, my heart has been possessed by beauty ²¹², and in my heart are wounds from affliction. I am the passionate lover who has filled the regions with emaciated ones; will lamentation console me? I am the servant who refuses to be freed from the servitude ²¹³ in which lies rectification. I see myself as worthless if He does not reform me, for in the Master ²¹⁴ lies the reform of the slave. To the Master the servant returns his fault, and he seeks the fault from Him—it is not permitted. When I am truly His servant, how often do I stand at the door of the Chosen One ²¹⁵ in praise! My acceptance despite my faults from Him is more fitting, when the open spaces become narrow for my deficiency. When the Beloved ²¹⁶ covers the faults of a servant, there is no harm upon him and no sin. I am the faulty servant at the door of Taha ²¹⁷; I have stood, and this is no jest. I hope, through hope in the Messenger, for succor, and in the shade of the Banner ²¹⁸ they find rest. Noble of soul, holy of nature, great of character, whose trait is generosity. The stones almost spoke among us when his beautiful qualities were recited. Until he said: The lover of the Chosen One is beloved of Taha, and the beloved of the Beloved has generosity. The lover of the Chosen One fears no injustice, and to the Gardens of Bliss ²¹⁹ he is brought. Will the Beloved neglect him tomorrow at the Gathering ²²⁰, while from Him flow seas of bounty? Upon him and his family be the purest peace, and upon his Companions, whose virtues shine. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, the treasure of savings, the tongue of glad tidings and warnings, the pole of sovereignty ²²¹, great in rank and stature, the mountain of glory with sound chain and traditions, the model for people of devotion and worship, who, when he extends his generous hand in giving, the clouds and seas become insignificant beside his generosity, and by his blessing the trees turn green and the branches and fruits ripen. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saint, the light of eyes and insights, the lamp of regions, the garden of guests and visitors, the fulfiller of needs and desires, the Kaaba ²²² of circumambulation and the station of blessing and happiness, blessed in soil and shrine, by whose rank sins and burdens are forgiven, the greatest of hardships and distresses are removed, and rains pour down. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your intimate, the Messiah to You at evening and dawn, the place of Your fear, the one who watches You in secret and public, the tongue of Your intercession, the one who supplicates to You in the darkness of night and the times of dawn, who, if one increases blessings upon him, You suffice him the worry of this world and the Hereafter and elevate him in the highest paradises and the bliss of the Abode of Permanence. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, the master of the righteous, the ornament of the chosen messengers, the garden of fragrant beauties and flowers, the full moon of pure mines of jewel and gold, the ornament of ornaments, who, had Allah not veiled him with beauty, no one would have been able to look at him with eyes. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your intimate, the throne of the mercy of the Essence ²²³, before whose majestic glory the odd and even prostrated, the manifestation of Names and Attributes, whose signs dazzled the inhabitants of the highest heaven and what the veils and curtains concealed, the sun of prophecies and messages, whose message was affirmed by trees and stones, and whatever fell under the Kaf of 'Be' ²²⁴ and encompassed by the spheres and cycles. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, from the time the suns of secrets rose in the kingdom of those who know their Lord and the excellent scholars, until the time of their setting in the hiddenness of the Ipsseity ²²⁵ of the perfect individuals and those of insight and discernment, a blessing that never ceases through the ages and times, continuing with the succession of night and day, enduring with the endurance of the kingdom of Allah, the One, the Subduer, and grant peace abundantly forever. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O driver of the camels ²²⁶, stop at the caravan, recite for a heart that flew from the flame of longing. Be gentle with a lover whose tales in love are told from burning ribs. His slips have delayed him from you, and what his hands have committed without consideration. And the preoccupation of time with following passion and obeying amusement without concealment. Would that I knew—is there a return? Would that my soul—I would call out repeatedly: O soul, if you do not desist today while the branch is fresh, then when is the waiting? Abandon negligence, for youth has passed, and seize repentance before the gray hair of the cheek. By Allah, if the record of today is absent, what will you do then, and what is the excuse? And you do not know whether you will go to a Garden or be called to the heat of a Fire. The judgment is Allah's, and my affair is His; perhaps He will, by grace, forgive the stumble and guide a hardened heart. Indeed, I am a weak creature with no choice. And I have no intercessor in the moment of dire need except the praise of the most noble of mankind: Muhammad the Chosen, the crown of highness, the essence of generous glory and pride, and he whose station Allah raised above all the messengers as the highest beacon. Whoever compares his face to the moon has erred, or says it is like the sun of day. The moon is subject to eclipse, and the sun shows us darkness through eclipse. But his radiance has shone and displayed beauty with that illumination. By Allah, O breeze of the east wind, greet the living one in the land of heat, and describe to Ahmad ²²⁷, the best of mankind, the state of a longing one far from home. And say to him: O master, whose bounty is abundant and who possesses modesty and dignity, O refuge of the distressed, O succor of him who seeks shelter and protection, for Ibn al-'Arusi ²²⁸, through praising you, there is beautiful hope, highness, and pride. And at that door he seeks rain of mercy, whose terror is needy. So intercede for him and accept him, that he may gain forgiveness for every sin he has committed. May Allah, Lord of the Throne, bless you as long as the night raven soars with the day falcon, and the family and Companions, as long as a dove coos on the branch and a nightingale sings. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, to whom You gave beautiful character and praiseworthy description, and granted him a praiseworthy station and an extended shade, and said concerning him—and Your word is truth:

He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion, and sufficient is Allah as a Witness ²²⁹. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, to whom You granted vast intercessory power ²³⁰ and an exalted, lofty station, and whom You gave perfect goodness and exquisite, wondrous beauty, and about whom You said—and Your word is truth: "Say, 'O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all'" ²³¹. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, to whom You gave great dominion ²³², magnificent rank, and momentous affair (156), and about whom You said—and Your word is truth: "O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good tidings, a warner, and one who invites to Allah by His permission, and an illuminating lamp" ²³³. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, the Forbearing, the Oft-Sighing ²³⁴, and Your peerless, matchless attendant, and Your Prophet about whom You said—and Your word is truth: "Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are pledging allegiance to Allah" ²³⁵. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, the one of high station and intercessory power, and Your attendant whose glory and praise are widespread on tongues, and Your Prophet about whom You said—and Your word is truth: "Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah" ²³⁶. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, at whose beauty minds and eyes were dazzled, and in comprehending whose realities (157) the saints and righteous were perplexed, and about whom You said—and Your word is truth: "So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be guided" ²³⁷. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which You admit us under the covering of Your protected veil, and by which You discharge for us all liabilities and debts, and by which You make us among those whom You have acquainted with the gifts of Your sciences and granted the upper hand in all arts, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. The full moons of the living ²³⁸, you have renewed my passion * Throughout the days, how can I find rest? My bones yearn for you forever * Even if I am tried in the grave and dust. In you, my masters, my expectations are good * For without you, my expectations are not good. I am the one weeping for you all my life * To your abode, my longing is forever. I send my messages with you to you * How many of you bring me near to you? I have no intercessor but your generosity * With you, my masters, that you may look upon me. Shall I seek other than you? Far be it, no! * O you who have accustomed me to loyalty. Messenger of Allah, refuge of every aim * I seek none but Taha ²³⁹, the Trustworthy. Hope in calamities and disasters * Savior of creation from humiliating terror. Beloved of Allah, opener of every good * Waterer of the army with pure water (158). Prophet of Allah, he informed us of guidance * He brought truth and the clear Reminder. Chosen of Allah, every life becomes pure * Through him, by Allah, in this world and my religion. Bright-faced, radiant, possessing beauty * Smooth-cheeked, with a luminous forehead. He attained prophethood and high qualities * While Adam was still between water and clay. Indeed, how noble is Ahmad ²⁴⁰ as an intercessor * A guarantor of salvation for us, a surety. He settled the believers in a fortress of religion * And a refuge from him in a strong fort. Upon him be the prayer of a Merciful, Compassionate * And upon his family and Companions at all times. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, sent as a mercy to all nations, and Your chosen one, distinguished with comprehensive speech ²⁴¹ and jewels of wisdom, who would not overlook anyone who wronged him, nor were sanctities violated in his gatherings. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved (159), who, when he walked, a cloud shaded him wherever he went, and Your chosen one for whom the moon split, and the stone acknowledged his message and affirmed, and his Lord praised him explicitly in pre-eternity and commanded that blessings and peace be sent upon him. So bless him, O Allah, and his pure family in character and nature, and his Companions and his progeny, houses of virtue, generosity, and nobility, as long as rainclouds pour down with his blessing, and from the spring of his mercies gush forth the fountains of sciences and jewels of wisdom, and grant abundant peace forever. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And who is like Taha, the Beloved, whom * The Creator of souls chose from creation? The beacon of congratulations, lofty in height * Over Arabs and non-Arabs, he is the most pure. The resort of angels throughout time * Through him, Allah sealed the prophets. Subtle in meanings, merciful in heart * Generous in nature, pleasant in character. O Mustafa ²⁴², O succorer of mankind * O one hoped for in what matters. The sorrowful al-Halabi ²⁴³ calls you, while * In his heart is the heat of blazing fear. Reach him with generosity, O Mustafa * For your generosity, by Allah, heals pain. If he is not deserving of it * Then who deserves generosity? For it is the custom of the Arabs to do good * To those with faults and those with sin (160). Peace be upon you, O Mustafa * And upon your family and Companions, people of trust. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, the pure chosen one, Your beloved and intimate messenger, Your pure and purified confidant, Your tested antidote ²⁴⁴, Your trustee over the revelation of heaven, whose love lies hidden in the consciences of veiled hearts, and the brilliant of attributes and names, who attained the greatest pleasure for those who believed in him and prepared and readied themselves for the service of his noble station. And wretched, by Allah, is he who denied his prophethood and messengership and deviated and turned away from his exemplary path.

So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which we become among those who master and train in the sciences of his Mustafawi praises ²⁴⁵, and become beloved to him through abundant blessings upon him, and draw near, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. * Hearts have called for their love the messengers of desire * Will they not answer, while their face is to beauty, O Lord? * A beloved by her beauty and coquetry * She mixed for us the spirit of delight with sorrow * The sun of intoxication ²⁴⁶ shone, O companion, from * Her mouth, and the star of its bubbles therein set * She is the garden of beauty, which none described * Except a witness by glances, for whom war is ²⁴⁷ * A meadow, if you wish for amusement and fragrance * Ready, if you seek frivolity and joy * She has bound my heart with the speech of her beauty * The hands of passion, so no escape and no flight * So look, you will see my ecstasy and the excess of my longing * In her, you see the most beloved of non-Arabs and Arabs * A lover who complained and wept and yearned and groaned from * Ecstasy and intent, which had distanced and drawn near * I am content with what she is content with, and what she wills I will * For the effacement of the portion of cuts and nearness ²⁴⁸ * And she has, by virtue, in what she seeks * When she makes my heart, it does not tremble O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets, whose breasts You expanded with the light of Your knowledge and Your oneness, and whose tongues You made to speak with Your praise and glorification, and who called Your servants to You and freed them from the noose of blind imitation ²⁴⁹, and clarified for them the landmarks of Your success and guidance, and taught them the etiquette of servitude, and gave them glad tidings of Your promise and warned them of Your threat, and safeguarded their minds from ignorance of Your knowledge and from associating a partner with You in the dispositions of Your decree and execution. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad ²⁵⁰ a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in the pillar of unveiling and clarification ²⁵¹, and You made them witness the circle of Your great dominion, of immense rank and authority. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in the station of nearness and proximity ²⁵², and You made them witness the vastness of Your forbearance, encompassed by pardon and forgiveness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You with the lights of truth and faith, and You made them witness the carpet of Your mercy, filled with the emotions of generosity and beneficence. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You with the pupils of inner sight ²⁵³ and the gifts of gnosis ²⁵⁴, and You made them witness the wondrous ²⁵⁵ beauty of Yours, exalted above the accidents of negation and deficiency. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in the holy manifestations, free from incarnation and union and the attributes of temporality ²⁵⁶, and You made them witness the wonders of Your craftsmanship, of which it is said: 'Nothing in possibility is more wondrous than what has been.' O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in the rays of light and radiance and the sources of every day He is upon some matter ²⁵⁷, and You made them witness the lights of prophecies and messages and the clear proofs and evidences. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in the witnessing places of witnessing and direct vision ²⁵⁸, and You made them witness the gardens of Your kingdom and Your dominion and the treasuries of Your generosity, filled with the gifts of grace and favor. ²⁵⁹ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in everything You created of spirits and bodies and all the worlds, and You made them witness the symbols of the indications of the heavenly books and the sacred hadiths ²⁶⁰ and the opening verses of the chapters of the Qur'an. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in the structures of realities that took their aspects from Your saying: 'The Most Merciful taught the Qur'an, created man, taught him eloquence' ²⁶¹, and You made them witness the subtle sciences that are too fine for the eyes of inner sight and the understandings of the most discerning individuals. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who witnessed You in the dispositions of destinies and the conscience of the command and the affair ²⁶², and You made them witness the secrets of 'And with Him are the keys of the unseen' ²⁶³ and the essence of the knowledge of the unseen world, 'He does not disclose His unseen to anyone except whom He approves of as a messenger' ²⁶⁴, so his inner sight was illuminated by the unveilings of access to the hidden things and the hidden secrets of the secret and the public. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that bestows upon us the fragrant breezes of its breaths with spirit and basil ²⁶⁵, and opens by its blessing in our faces the doors of contentment and pleasure, and gives us thereby of everlasting bliss what no eye has seen nor ear has heard in the abode of honor and the paradises of gardens, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. The witnessing places of gnosis have reached You * And the stations of clarification have drawn near to You And a community has donned the cloak of Your knowledge * That appeared through the collection of the sources of the Criterion ²⁶⁶ O Unique One of the dominion in His tidings * And His splendor and the ranks of the entities ²⁶⁷ O Qibla of the entities, exalted is a relationship * That calls You among us by Your human name ²⁶⁸ O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows on our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets whom You adorned with the jewels of Your wisdom, and decorated with the sash of Your obedience and infallibility, and whose tongues You released with the jewels of Your revelation, and made them intercessors for Your female slaves and the servants of Your service.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad ¹⁶⁶ a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets upon whom You bestowed abundant favors, and manifested the witness of Your grace and bounty, and sanctified their limbs from sins and base acts, and made them in Your impregnable fortress and the sanctuary of Your inviolability. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who uphold the rulings of Your law and religion, who fulfill Your covenants, who fear Your might, who are supported by the lights of prophethood, who are created with love for You and Your innate disposition, who obtain the greatest share of Your supreme pleasure and the outpourings of Your compassion and mercy. So bless them, O Allah, and bless Your prophet, our master Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the bridegroom of Your kingdom, the imam of Your presence, the chosen one from Your creation, the locus of Your gaze, a blessing that pleases You, pleases him, pleases them, and through which You are pleased with us along with them, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets whom You mentioned in Your Book and made keys to Your doors, and sanctified their souls ¹⁶⁷ in the highest 'Illiyin ²⁶⁹ and purified them in the abode of Your recompense and reward. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets whom You made lamps of Your pegs ²⁷⁰ and poles ²⁷¹, Your chosen ones from Your creation, the elite of Your beloved, the brides of the presence of Your nearness and proximity, and intercessors for those who deserve Your great disgrace and punishment. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets who clarified the landmarks of Your guidance and rectitude, and whom You made vicegerents in Your earth and lands, and messengers conveying what You commanded them to Your servants. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets whom You gave to drink from the cups of Your love and pure affection, and singled out with the secret of revelation according to what flowed in Your prior will and desire, and through whose swords You cut off the backs of the people of ¹⁶⁸ Your denial and obstinacy. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your chosen one, our father Adam, the wonderful work of Your nature, the first of Your proof, the path of Your way, the tongue of Your address, the hand of Your power, the vicegerent in Your creation, the one who acknowledges Your servitude, who seeks refuge in Your protection from Your punishment, who drags the hair of his head in humility in Your sanctuary for Your might, whom You created from dust, and he spoke acknowledging Your oneness, so he was the first to be chosen for repentance by Your mercy. And bless, O Allah, his son Muhammad, the praised one, the pure from Your chosen ones, Your beloved, the trustworthy, entrusted with the hidden secret of Your revelation by what You bestowed upon him of Your grace and assistance, whom You chose over all Your chosen ones, honored him over the notables of Your kingdom, opened through him the lights of Your prophethood, and sealed with him the secrets of Your messages. And single out, O Allah, with the best of Your intimate conversations and the noblest of Your acts of obedience and worship, and convey to his soul from me a greeting and peace, and increase him in honor, virtue, blessing, secret, and favor until You raise him to the noblest of the noble stations that You have granted any of Your creation, and give him of the lofty stations the most complete that You have given any of the prophets and messengers and the elite of the elite from Your chosen ones. And bless, O Allah, his brother Gabriel, adorned with light, the trustworthy over the revelation of ¹⁶⁹ heaven, the near one, the blessed, the strong in Your command, the obeyed in Your heavens, the locus of Your honors, the helper of Your prophets, the destroyer of Your enemies. And bless those between them of the prophets and messengers, the truthful ones, the righteous, and all Your honored servants. And bless Abel, Seth, Idris, Noah, Abraham, Elijah, Ishmael, Jonah, Jacob, the tribes, Moses, Aaron, al-Khidr ²⁷², Dhul-Qarnayn ²⁷³, Dhul-Kifl ²⁷⁴, Lot, David, Joshua, Solomon, Zechariah, John, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Simon, Daniel, Ezra, the disciples. And bless those whom You have named and those whom You have not named among Your angels, prophets, messengers, and the righteous among Your servants. And convey my blessings to their souls, and make them my brothers in You, and send abundant, precious, and good peace upon them. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and patron Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that pleases You and pleases our father Adam, the elder of Your prophets, the imam of Your saints, Your vicegerent in Your earth and heaven, the manifestation of the secret of Your attributes ¹⁷⁰ and names, about whom You said to the angels, "Indeed, I am placing a vicegerent on earth" ²⁷⁵, and that was because You knew that they did not know You with true knowledge, and they were incapable of grasping the reality, and they turned away from the door of lordship due to the overwhelming awe of the assaults of might upon them, and You referred them to him to acquire knowledge and etiquette in service, until they attained through the knowledge of attributes what they could not attain through worship, because they worshipped You with ignorance and did not know You with true knowledge, while he made You known through the reality of the knowledge that You taught him from the divine sciences ²⁷⁶. And inevitably he was their teacher in the science of knowledge, even if they preceded him in worship. Also because Allah did not see in existence a sincere lover as He desired, so He made Adam for the sake of love. That is because He created the angels for worship, so He made them aware during the consultation with the angels of their lack of love due to their preoccupation with worship away from Him. Also, when the angels wanted to see Him with the knowledge of truth due to their weakness in looking at Him, He made Adam for them so that they could see Him, because He created him with His hand, formed him in His image, and placed in him the mirror of His spirit; when they look into it, He manifests Himself to them—exalted is He. Also, there is no beautiful witness in the world that creation loves, so He created him with His hand, clothed him with an attribute from His attributes, and loved him with His attributes for the sake of His attributes. Also, the Truth wanted to manifest Himself to them in the realities of creation, so they turned from the Truth to creation, and it is said they disobeyed Allah by objecting to the Truth ¹⁷¹ in blaming Adam and praising themselves when they said, "Will You place therein one who will cause corruption therein and shed blood, while we exalt You with praise and sanctify You?" ²⁷⁷—that He called Adam a vicegerent at the beginning of the address, and a vicegerent does not oppress or act unjustly, so they were ignorant of His description of him as His vicegerent and His knowledge of the special qualities of His love and His praise of him with vicegerency, while they described him with corruption and ignorance due to bad opinion and lack of etiquette. So He removed the veil of holiness from Adam's face and illuminated the world with his beauty, and they were ashamed of their claim and admitted their ignorance, saying, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us" ²⁷⁸.

And their saying, "We glorify [You] with Your praise and sanctify You" ²⁷⁹ — they moved from the realm of actions, while Adam's affair was from the realm of states, so they were veiled by the vision of the act from witnessing the electing quality ²⁸⁰ that had preceded with the attribute of beauty for Adam. Also, they presented themselves with the attribute of servitude before the pavilion of majesty from Him over lordship, so Allah the Exalted cast them down from the station of the reality of knowledge and brought them out, by deriving knowledge of their states from Adam. Some said: When they witnessed their actions and boasted of them, Allah the Exalted turned their faces away from Him toward Adam and commanded them to prostrate to him, informing them that worship weighs nothing with Him. Some said: Whoever is arrogant due to his knowledge and arrogant due to his obedience, ignorance becomes his abode. Do you not see that when they said to Him, "We glorify [You] with Your praise and sanctify You," He compelled them to say, "We have no knowledge" ²⁸¹? Al-Wasiti ²⁸² said: Whoever says "I" has contested [divine] power. The angels said, "We glorify [You] with Your praise and sanctify You," and that was to deprive them of knowledge, while they were masters of boasting and objecting to lordship by saying, "Will You place therein one who will cause corruption therein and shed blood?" ²⁸³ Ibn 'Ata' ²⁸⁴ said: The angels made their claims a means to Allah, so Allah commanded the Fire and it burned thousands of them in one hour, and they acknowledged impotence and said, "Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us" ²⁸⁵. Ja'far ²⁸⁶ said: When they boasted of their deeds, glorification, and sanctification, He struck them all with ignorance until they said, "We have no knowledge." Some said: They passed over Adam and considered him insignificant, not knowing the special characteristics of the making of him. The Exalted manifested upon him the attribute of pre-eternity, so humility toward him became a means of nearness to the Truth, and arrogance toward him became distance from the Truth. Abu 'Uthman al-Maghribi ²⁸⁷ said: The trial of creation is only due to claims. Do you not see that when the angels said, "We glorify [You] with Your praise," how they were reduced to ignorance until they said, "We have no knowledge"? "And He taught Adam all the names" ²⁸⁸ — meaning He taught him the names of the specific attributes by which the realities of all attributes are known, and by whose lights he was guided to the paths of knowledge of the Essence. Also, He taught him the names of the stations ²⁸⁹ which are the stages of states. Al-Jurayri ²⁹⁰ said: He taught him a name from His treasured names, and by it he knew all names. Ibn 'Ata' said: Had the knowledge of those names not been unveiled to Adam, he would have been more incapable than the angels in reporting about them. It was said: His knowledge overcame the knowledge of the angels due to the strength of witnessing the address without intermediary in His saying, "And He taught Adam all the names." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, upon our tongues, flows what pleases You and pleases Your guest, our father Adam, crowned with the crown of the glory of eternity, and Your beloved, our master Muhammad, his son by origin and body, and his father in supply and support, and the precedence of the precedents of the light that was on his face until those among the angels who prostrated prostrated to him, as You mentioned in Your Book by Your saying: "And [mention] when We said to the angels, 'Prostrate to Adam,' and they prostrated, except Iblis; he refused and was arrogant" ²⁹¹. He renewed — that is, the Truth Exalted clothed Adam in the garment of servitude, so they were amazed by their worship, and He clothed him in the garment of lordship and embroidered upon him the brocade of His attributes and presented him to the angels, and they saw him clothed in the garment of the Truth, so they were ashamed of their amazement at their worship. So Allah the Exalted commanded them to prostrate to him to change them and to teach them that their worship neither increases lordship nor decreases divinity. Also, when He created him with His creation and formed him in His form and clothed him with His lights and breathed into him of His spirit and settled him in His Garden and seated him on the throne of His kingdom, He made His angels prostrate to him until He completed for him the attributes of lordship through servitude. When the angels prostrated to Adam, Iblis refused to prostrate because the angels saw in him the secret of Allah and upon him the garment of Allah dyed with the dye of Allah, but Iblis did not see what was unveiled to them, so he refused and was arrogant due to Allah's anger upon him, and he became of the disbelievers — that is, in His prior knowledge, of the expelled ones. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which, upon our tongues, flows what pleases You and pleases Your chosen one, our father Adam, the element of the human creation and the human clay, the tablet of the divine sciences ²⁹², the companion of the Eternal Presence, whom You created for eternal vicegerency and perpetual care and auspicious tidings and the Muhammadan result, and You proportioned him with Your hand and favored him over all Your creation. The angels thought that his favor was for himself, so they said, "Will You place therein one who will cause corruption therein and shed blood, while we glorify [You] with Your praise and sanctify You?" When the secret of gnosis and the insight into the realities of the names of the existents were presented to them, they purified themselves from their assumption due to the lack of the name, and said, "Indeed, some assumption is sin" ²⁹³, and they all hastened to excuse: "We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, You are the Knowing, the Wise" ¹⁷. When the Muhammadan light appeared on his face, they all fell prostrate to him, but the envious one refused.

The denier ²⁹⁴ is nothing but arrogance and disputation, and he began to say: "I am better than him; You created me from fire and created him from clay," out of jealousy towards him for being firmly established in the utmost degree of empowerment. It is reported that Moses, peace be upon him, met Iblis on Mount Sinai and raised his staff to strike him, but Iblis said to him: "O Moses, I do not fear the staff; I only fear a heart that remembers Allah with purity ²⁹⁵." Moses asked him: "What is the sign of purity?" He replied: "Abandoning heedlessness, envy, and obstinacy; preserving remembrance and affection; and awaiting destiny with contentment." Moses said to him: "O Iblis, how evil is what you did when you did not prostrate to Adam!" Iblis replied: "Retreating from a claim is greater than the trial. Had I prostrated, I would have been afflicted with lying, and I would have been like you who claimed to seek the vision ²⁹⁶ but were tested by looking at the mountain, so you left what was before you and looked behind you. Had you closed your eyes to the mountain, you would have seen Allah truly with the eyes of your heart, not with the eyes of your body. Therefore, you were veiled by seeing the creature from the Creator." Moses said: "Am I not rewarded for obedience because I did what I was commanded?" Iblis replied: "That was not a command from Allah; rather, it was a test, for He said: 'And We will surely test you until We know the strivers among you and the patient, and We will test your reports.'" Moses said: "Did He not expel you for disobedience and make you despair of His mercy?" Iblis replied: "O Moses, punishment is easier than lying. I will not prostrate to anyone other than Him, even if He curses me. I am before Him even if He expels me; if He wills, He punishes me, and if He wills, He has mercy on me." Then he began to say: "Do not marvel at my lowliness, for I am the one whom the Wise Judge decreed lowliness and thus humiliated me. O Moses, there was no angel of greater rank or higher station than me, but the eternal decree passed due to the sublime cause. Indeed, whoever knows my Creator with the knowledge of tawhid ²⁹⁷ such that I confuse others and am unique in my tawhid in the journey—O Moses, whoever worships Allah with abstraction ²⁹⁸ is driven away by the pursuit of increase. He placed me in the station of 'Prostrate,' but I was expelled from it, saying, 'I worship none but You. I am a loving, lowly one, and I have no way to other than You.' Then I was called: 'You were arrogant.' I said: 'Arrogance befits me, for I regarded none but You. I am the one who knew You in pre-eternity, while others are halted by causes. I am better than him because I have precedence in service, and there is none in the two worlds more knowledgeable of You than I. You have a prior will concerning me, and I have a subsequent will concerning You. If I prostrate to other than You, I am cut off from grace; if I do not prostrate, I return to the origin. If You draw me by threatening with fire, fire is from fire, and Yours is the decree and choice. O Moses, You were called a thousand times, but my tawhid prevented me from prostrating to other than Allah. You were called once: 'Look at the mountain,' and you looked. Where is the soundness of my claim compared to your claim? Where is my knowledge of my Master compared to your knowledge of your Master?" Moses said to him: "Without doubt, Allah has changed your form, made you despair of His mercy, and cursed you." He replied: "O Moses, I am a thing ²⁹⁹, and my Lord's mercy encompasses all things. O Moses, I have only changed my form for confusion ³⁰⁰, but the state upon which reliance is placed does not change. O Moses, knowledge is sound and has not changed; the formal person is not considered." Moses said: "O Iblis, do you remember Allah now?" He said: "O Moses, my remembrance of Him has become reflection and contemplation. O Moses, I am remembered and He is remembered; His remembrance is my remembrance, and my remembrance is His remembrance. Can there be two remembrances except together? O Moses, my service to Him now is purer, my time with Him is sweeter, and my remembrance of Him is sweeter. In the past, I served Him for my own share; now I am deprived of my share and serve for His share. How different are the two stations! O Moses, the rock of prevention has been cast upon hope, and the vision of harm and benefit has been banished. Due to my firmness in singling Him out, He brought me into existence; at night I mingle with the sincere ones, He expelled me. O Moses, He deprived me only because of the truth of my love, and made my form ugly because of my praise, and prevented me from others because of my jealousy, and blamed me because of my migration, and abandoned me because of my unveiling, and unveiled me because of my union, and united me because of my separation, and separated me to prevent my favor. O Moses, by the truth of the Truth, I did not err in planning, nor did I reject destiny, nor did I swear to change the form. If I am punished forever, I will not prostrate to other than the One, the Unique, nor will I humble myself to a person or a body, nor will I acknowledge with Allah any harm, rival, partner, or child. O Moses, my claim is the claim of the truthful, and I am to Allah the most sincere of the sincere. Because I read in the Clear Book the will of the Possessor of Strength, the Firm, I was content to be submissive and humiliated before Him. O Moses, how can I prostrate to Adam when I am created from fire and he from clay? They are opposites that cannot be combined and never agree. Or how can I prostrate to Adam when I am more ancient in service, greater in virtue, more knowledgeable in knowledge, and more complete in age? O Moses, when my Lord tested me with a command and did not accept from me, my foot stood firm unwillingly; but when He tested him with a prohibition and desired from him, his foot slipped.

He advanced reluctantly, and to God belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and to Him all matters return. Then he began to say: All choices are Yours; if You prevent me from prostrating, You are the Invincible; if my speech errs, You are the All-Hearing. And indeed, had I chosen to prostrate, I would have been obedient, but I do not know You from myself in the station of total gathering ³⁰¹. Then he recited and began to say: Do not blame me, for blame is far from me, * and reward me in love, for I am alone. Indeed, in the promise, Your promise with truth is true, * and I, at the beginning of my affair, am severe. Whoever desires reproach, this is my book, * so read it, for my Lord is Witness. O Moses, I was named 'Azazil ³⁰² for a number of sayings: that I am the 'Azil ³⁰³ of God, or an 'Azil for God, or an 'Azil in God, or an 'Azil by God. The station of isolation ³⁰⁴ is only for a specific matter that none knows except the most special of the special ³⁰⁵. O Moses, I was in heaven calling to God, and today I am on earth calling to God. In heaven I called to God through virtues, because they are of the nature of the lights of those places. (179) And today I call to God through vices, because they are of the nature of the dark clay, without which no light would shine. O Moses, were it not for vices, virtues would not be known in their enumeration; things are only known through their opposites. O Moses, just as there was no obedient one in heaven except I was its leader, so too there is no disobedient one on earth except I am its leader. I have not returned from my beginning to an end, nor have I gone out from my end to a beginning. But the eloquent speakers of the people have become mute at His door, and their knowers ³⁰⁶ have failed in their knowledge of Him and have become absent from what they studied. O Moses, I was the most knowledgeable of creation about prostration, the closest to the Existent ³⁰⁷, and the most generous in effort. They all prostrated in assistance, but I refused due to the length of my duration in contemplation ³⁰⁸. The first circle is His will, the second His wisdom, the third His power, and the fourth His knowledge and eternity. If I enter the first circle, I am tested by the second; if I attain the second, I am tested by the third; if I attain the third, I am tested by the fourth. No, no—because of my falling upon the first, I was cursed in the second, expelled in the third, and where am I from the fourth? Had I known that prostration would save me, I would have prostrated, but I saw beyond those circles other circles, and beyond the circles the circle of the annihilation of vision by the truth of the Truth in the Truth ³⁰⁹. And the Truth is One, Singular, and tawhid ³¹⁰ is the attribute of the one who affirms unity. How can the lost (180) be with the Existent? And they recited: And ecstasy ³¹¹ is but a flash, then a glance, * kindling a blaze among those inner secrets. When the Truth settles in the inner sight, it multiplies * three states for the people of insight. So look, O rational one, with the eye of my reflection at the debate of this accursed devil and his obstinacy against the elite of the prophets, messengers, and people of the upright religion and the straight path. And reflect on what his pride and envy led him to—his refusal to prostrate to Adam, the chosen and interlocutor ³¹², and his attribution of injustice to his Forbearing and Generous Lord in his saying: "I am better than him; You created me from fire and created him from clay" ³¹³. Thus he deserved expulsion and dwelling in the abode of hellfire. Do not be deceived by your knowledge and deeds, for he worshipped God in the seven heavens until there was no obedient angel there except he was its leader. And it is narrated that he was among the most majestic angels, entrusted with the Preserved Tablet ³¹⁴, and he never ceased worshipping God for the blink of an eye. Then the decreed destiny ran its course, with what was and what will be of the dispositions of the Self-Subsisting Truth ³¹⁵. And the command of God was a measured decree. None escaped his misguidance except those whom our Lord mentioned in His Book: "Indeed, My servants—you have no authority over them" ³¹⁶. Then he appeared to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: "O Muhammad, you have been afflicted from your community by three things." He said: "And what are they, O accursed one?" He said: "Stinginess, forgetfulness of sins, and negligence in prayer." Then he said: "O Muhammad, the people of the Fire have traits by which they are known, these and these." The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him: "And what are the traits of the people of the Fire, O accursed one?" (181) He said: "Associating partners with God, doubt in the religion of God, abandoning prayer, anger without right, audacity, violence, foolishness, disobedience, lying, backbiting, slander, false testimony, severing family ties, committing abominations, killing the soul, drinking wine, fornication, and disobedience to parents. These are among the traits of the people of the Fire." Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him: "And what are the traits of the people of Paradise?" He said: "Forbearance, knowledge, generosity, magnanimity, dignity, tranquility, asceticism, worship, spiritual discipline, good character, kindness to parents, piety, modesty, manliness, and obedience to God Almighty. These are among the traits of the people of Paradise." The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him: "Indeed, you have..."

O Lord, grant us the best of repentance ³¹⁷ by which we attain goodness and have sins forgiven. O Allah, I ask You, O my Master, by the sanctity of Your beloved, our master Muhammad, the chosen and noble, and by the sanctity of his rank and the majesty of his great station ³¹⁸, that You guide me, O Allah, to the path of Your straight way, and make me follow the practices of the people of Your upright religion, and grant me a sincere repentance ³¹⁹ by which You forgive my offenses, purify me from every ugly deed and blameworthy attribute, and protect me from the snares of the soul and its calamities, and from the plots of the accursed Satan. O Allah, suffice me against his evil, and do not make my breast a pasture for him, nor my heart a dwelling where he roams and settles, nor my thought a field where he plays as he wills and plunges into seas of desires and wanders aimlessly. Preserve me from his misguidance with Your perfect preservation, and do not make me among those whom he excites with his voice, against whom he rallies his cavalry and infantry, over whom he gains mastery through his authority and dominion, and whom he overpowers in word and deed. Be for me a deliverer from his snares, a rescuer from his traps, a protector from his evil, and one who distances me from his misguidance. O Allah, he whispers into the heart what cannot be unraveled, and casts into the soul what cannot be mentioned, things that are far removed from the loftiness of Your ancient glory and the sublimity of Your immense might. So remove, O my Master, by Your grace, from my innermost what he has inscribed, and erase with the water of Your pardon from my heart what he has forged, and wash it away with a downpour from the clouds of Your majesty and a flood from the gifts of Your might and victory. Draw against him the sword of Your rejection, shoot him with the arrows of Your exclusion, burn him with the fire of Your vengeance prepared for Your enemies, and make my deliverance from him increase his grief, confirm his regret, and hold him accountable for the opposite of his intent and his evil suspicion, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. My God, our weak hearts are quicker to change than the blink of an eye, and harder than pieces of iron and solid rock. You are their Owner, and in Your hand are the dispositions of wisdom and decree. So lead them by their reins, O my Master, to goodness in coming and going, preserve them from everything that harms them and leads them to destruction and injury, purify them from the filth of desires and their servitude, and guide them in the paths of success so that they may attain the goal from You and achieve the desire. Deal with us, O Allah, with Your pardon, grant us a beneficial secret, look upon us with the eye of Your kindness, conceal our ugly faults, hasten for us the answer by Your grace, bestow upon us the perfection of our desire, overlook us with Your generosity, favor, and bounty, and do not take us to task for the evil we have earned, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. My God, I am certain that You are my Creator; You cause death and give life; nothing is beyond Your power. My God, be for me on the day I am raised a protector, when all creatures are bewildered by the gathering. My God, be lenient in the reckoning, for I am weak, and my burden my back cannot bear. My God, save me from Hell, for I am confident in my hope that Your pardon is my cover. My God, admit me to Paradise, for I am poor and in need of Your great mercy. My God, increase me beyond what I ask, for You are Generous, and generosity is its own virtue. My God, answer me, for Your promise is true, and Your word is truth, as the Reminder has come to me. My God, the Imam of the messengers is my means: Muhammad, the guide, whose rank is high. My God, by the station of the Chosen One, Ahmad, whose virtues are immense and beyond count; upon him be from the Most Merciful the purest of His blessings and the purest of Allah's peace as long as rain falls. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of prophecies and messages, and the calls of creation to Allah and the proofs. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of virtues and perfections, and sincerity with Allah in purifying actions and words. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of miracles and wonders, and high stations and ranks. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of preservation and trusts, and infallibility, chastity, and religions. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of witnessing and determinations, and divine unveilings and spiritual refreshments. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of luminous hearts and spiritual souls. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of divine knowledge and unique indications. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of inspired sciences and sacred secrets. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of sharp intellects and delightful tastes. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of bestowed openings and unseen insights. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of throne-like aspirations and lofty, elevated stations. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of divine gifts and glad tidings of happiness. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues pleasing to You and to Your prophets, the people of subtle spiritual realities and magnificent merciful gifts.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets, the people of the jabarutic lights ³²⁰ and the rahbutic remembrances ³²¹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets, the people of the raghbutic means ³²² and the majestic manifestations ³²³. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets, the people of the lahutic descents ³²⁴ and the nasutic characteristics ³²⁵. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophets, the people of revelation and inspirational receptions ³²⁶ and luminous truths and essential attributes. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your prophet whom You singled out with the highest horizon ³²⁷, and addressed with ladunni knowledge ³²⁸ and the most manifest secret, and honored with the lofty station and the highest honor, and chose him for the station of nearness and the closest proximity, and spoke to him from the distance of two bow-lengths or nearer ³²⁹. So bless him, O Allah, and his family whom You adorned with the noblest perfections and the most beautiful attributes, and his Companions whose souls You chose for the sanctuaries of holiness and honored them with increase and excellence, a blessing that will make us drink from the purest and sweetest springs of his chosen ones and make us among those who are content with the remembrance of his Ahmadic ³³⁰ qualities and who are independent through praise of the beauties of his noble essence, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. And O masters around the Friend ³³¹, their graves, and those who have a sign above the two Bears ³³², And O prophets of Allah, O those whose station is more sublime and higher than others and more magnificent, If you wish us, it is a favor and a grace upon us, and you are more merciful to the poor. And are we anything but slaves in your presence? And indeed you, by Allah, know the state best. So O those upon whom Allah pours the rain of their giving upon all people, indeed the people are you. Through you the fearful and terrified seek refuge, who has committed destructive sins, and is saved. Through you the servant seeks help in what befalls him, and thus attains the desired from you and gains. Is there not among you that Friend ³³¹ who has a glorious station beneath which the star is eclipsed? Is he not, after the Chosen One ³³³, the most perfect of creation, and the highest in rank, and the most exalted and greatest? Is he not the chief of the prophets and their crown? Is he not a pattern of lordship marked out? And above him is none but the Beloved ³³⁴, whose station is more precious and sublime in perfection and more generous. Upon all of them, may our Lord bless and grant peace, so all of you, 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, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, whom You praised in the clear verses of Your Wise Book, saying: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" ³³⁵. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, by whose sanctity You swore, as mentioned in the sacred hadiths ³³⁶ and the verses of the Qur'an, and with whose Muhammadan light You illuminated the sanctuaries of the highest dominion and the paradises of the gardens. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, whom You crowned with the crown of honor and dignity, and through whom You led his community on the paths of guidance and safety. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, whom You gave a good life and sent as a blessed and happy messenger to creation, and caused him to die pure, well-pleasing, and accepted, and granted him a lofty rank and a praiseworthy station ³³⁷. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, to whom You made known to the angels his honor and virtue, and made them recognize his status, trustworthiness, and justice. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, who led the prophets in rows in the niche of gathering and separation ³³⁸, and attained in the presence of his Lord the rank of precedence and the prize of the race. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, through whom You guided the servants to Your straight path, and swore by his mission saying: "Ya Sin. By the Wise Qur'an, indeed you are among the messengers on a straight path" ³³⁹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, in whom You gathered all beauties and every beauty and perfection, and singled him out with the means ³⁴⁰ and excellence, and honored him above all other prophets and messengers. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, with whose party and followers You adorned the earth, and filled the East and West and all regions with his community. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, through whose mission You honored creation and delighted all beings with the beauty of his pearl. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your Beloved, through whose support You established the religion and made the worlds happy through his intercession and his gaze.

O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your beloved, by whose law religions were abrogated and by whose grace the worlds were overwhelmed. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your beloved, whom You honored the patrons by serving him and magnified the free by magnifying his sanctity. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your beloved, by whose lineage You raised ranks and by whose fragrance You perfumed the garments. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad (197) a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your beloved, who rose above the Pleiades ³⁴¹ by his aspiration and encompassed the servants with his kindness and mercy. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your beloved, from whose secrets of wisdom the springs of knowledge gushed forth, and the heavenly scriptures testified to the universality of his prophethood and messengership, the perfection of his trustworthiness and infallibility. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your beloved, who broke the backs of the polytheists with the proofs of his argument and manifested the religion through his clear evidences and the paths of his way. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing that secures us through it from the calamities of time and its tyranny, and through it treats us with all kindness at the arrival of death and its suddenness, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. The noble angels marveled at his innate disposition (198) and the seven heavens ³⁴² affirmed his virtue and his impact. So the rain is the outpouring of his right hand, and the unseen is the light of his insight. Beauty is part of his attributes, and light is the adornment of his forehead. Knowledge is the crown of his perfection, and forbearance is the character of his aspiration. He encompassed all the worlds with his bounty and mercy. How many a sign, how many a proof, were coupled with the dazzling evidences of his argument. And an answer coupled with his request and his supplication. And a station surrounded by his majesty and his might. He is the bringer of good tidings, he is the warner, of His fire and His paradise. The sun of forenoon stood still for him, out of longing for him and for seeing him. This is the glory whose rank the high aspirations seek. This is the lineage whose noble descent is pure. How generous is the virtue of Muhammad, and his glory and his excellence. May Allah bless him as long as fragrance emanates from his grave. Effusions of mercies, fragrant breezes, luminous signs and miracles (199), and radiant blessings, felicities, and stations, and shining lights of full moons whose people are unveiled in the heaven of high stations, and their merits are widespread and manifest among the people of virtue, and their hearts are molded upon the drop of the best of creation and are flourishing with his love, and their souls are expended in his pleasure and are cooperating in his service and obedience. And how could it not be, when He loved them and said concerning them: "Love my Companions, for my Companions submitted from fear of Allah, and the people submitted from fear of their swords. Whoever reviles my Companions, upon him be the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people." And He, exalted, said: { Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him } ³⁴³ Meaning Abu Bakr, the Imam of verification ³⁴⁴, who spent on the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and preferred him over his own family and compassionate dependents, the merciful one likened to Abraham. And they recited: Indeed I love Abu Hafs ³⁴⁵ and his partisans, as I love 'Atiq ³⁴⁶, the companion of the cave. And I have accepted 'Ali as a leading example, and I have not accepted the killing of the elder in the house. All the Companions are for me a leading example, so is there any shame upon me for this saying? (201) If you know that I do not love them except for love of You, then free me from the Fire. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet, concerning whose virtues he said: "The most merciful of this community is Abu Bakr, the strongest in the religion of Allah is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, the most truthful in modesty is 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, the most excellent is 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, the most knowledgeable of inheritance is Zayd ibn Thabit, the best reciter of the Book of Allah is Ubayy ibn Ka'b, the trustee of this community is Abu 'Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, Abu Hurayra is a vessel of knowledge, Salman knows knowledge that cannot be diminished, Mu'adh ibn Jabal is the most knowledgeable of people about Allah's lawful and unlawful, and the green [sky] has not shaded nor the dust [earth] carried anyone more truthful in speech than Abu Dharr." O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet, concerning whose virtues it is narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that he said: "I entered upon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he was that day radiant, showing it. I said to him, 'What is this, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'An angel descended upon me with a greeting from Paradise, which is a rose ³⁴⁷. He said, 'Your Lord greets you with it.' I smelled it (202) and it split open into four pieces. From the first piece came forth a houris ³⁴⁸ with seventy braids, wearing seventy silk garments; the marrow of her shanks could be seen through the garments, bone, and skin, as red wine is seen through a white glass. I said, 'To whom do you belong?' She said, 'To the elder of the Muslims and the slayer of the polytheists, Abu Bakr.' Then I returned to a palace of white pearl. Then from the second piece came forth a houris whose feet were of the finest musk, her middle of white ruby, and her upper part of gray ambergris, wearing seventy garments of brocade. I said, 'To whom do you belong?' She said, 'To the elder of the righteous and the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab.' Then I returned to a palace of red ruby. Then from the third piece came forth..."

"Whoever desires to hold fast to the red rod ³⁴⁹ which Allah planted with the hand of power in the Garden of Eden, let him hold fast to the love of Ali." May Allah be pleased with him and with them all. I love Abu Bakr for the love of our Prophet, and it is right for us to love the honored Imam. And the love of Abu Hafs ³⁵⁰ Ali is confirmed, and his abode is in my skin, my flesh, and my blood. And Uthman I have loved beyond my capacity, like my love that is encamped in the heart. I profess it to the Most Merciful, hoping for His reward, and I fear, if I oppose it, the fire of Hell. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad ²⁰⁴ a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the righteous and noble Companions of Your Prophet, and their clans and branches, and those who follow them in emulation and affiliation. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the leading and eminent Companions of Your Prophet, and those who love them or join them and act according to the requirements of the Muhammadan Sharia and submit to the dispositions of the rulings. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet who are regarded with the eye of righteousness and respect, and those who are affiliated with them and are included in their ranks and serve them with intention and affirmation and submit to them without a rein. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet whom You honored with the might of status and the loftiness of station, and drew them to His presence in a time ²⁰⁵ of heedlessness while people were asleep. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Messenger through whom You established the religion and protected the egg of Islam ³⁵¹, and who defended the Ahmadine Sunna with the spear, arrow, and sword. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Messenger whom You looked upon with the eye of veneration and magnification, and poured upon their hearts the gifts of mercies and abundant favors. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Messenger whose inner selves were purified from the impurities of doubts and illusions, and You filled their hearts with Your love and made them love one another for Your sake and maintain ties without kinship or blood relations. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad ²⁰⁶ a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet who made You the focus of their eyes in travel and residence, and found comfort in You in their seclusions, and were devoted to Your remembrance in wakefulness and sleep. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet who made You the pillar of support and the refuge of adherence, and entrusted their affairs to You and received Your rulings with delegation and submission. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet whose insights and understandings You illuminated, and You revealed Your Book to them and addressed them with the tongue of revelation and inspiration. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet ²⁰⁷ for whom Your care preceded before puberty and maturity, and who obeyed Your command and stood for the support of Your religion without slackening, weariness, or shyness. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet through whose appearance You erased the trace of the worshippers of idols and statues, and through whom You humiliated the jibt ³⁵², the taghut ³⁵³, the ansab ³⁵⁴, and the azlam ³⁵⁵. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet who clenched their teeth on love for him and fulfilled his rights in the most complete manner, and whom You guided to the path of good, so they were illuminated by his prophetic light in the darkness of ignorance and the trenches of gloom. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet through whom the landmarks of religion and the rites of Islam became clear, and through whom You blessed ²⁰⁸ the ages and times and the bright nights and days. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the Companions of Your Prophet who strove in Your path until they clarified the lawful and the unlawful, and You raised them to the highest ranks, so they attained from Your pleasure the ultimate goal and desire. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases the pure wives of Your Prophet, chaste in bosom and womb, and his noble Companions, illuminators of hearts and bodies. So bless, O Allah, him and his noble and generous family, and his Companions, stars of emulation and full moons of perfection, a blessing whose blessing we find at the end of life and the onset of death, and through which You lodge us in the highest station in the Garden of Eternity and the Abode of Peace, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. I call my beloved, my support and my means, my hope for a day when my vow is fulfilled, the intercessor of mankind on the Day of Gathering, mercy for the causes of honoring the precedence of the unseen ²⁰⁹, and whose rank with God is exalted, as the revealed Book explicitly states. He is the full moon in the horizon of majesty, and his Companions are guiding stars that guide the misguided from the caravan.

The first of them—and the truth, if it be first—is Abu Bakr al-Siddiq ³⁵⁶, possessor of abundant generosity, the intimate friend of the Messenger of Allah, his companion; he has such virtue as surpasses the virtue of any possessor of intellect. After him is al-Faruq ³⁵⁷, the resolute and exalted, Abu Hafs ³⁵⁸, known in truth for love. After them both is Uthman ³⁵⁹, whose station is most sublime; his virtues surpass every possessor of merit. And the fourth of them is the sea of courage when the fire of thrusting and war blazes: Ali ³⁶⁰, in measure, knowledge, and lordship, the destroyer of the tyrants of unbelief by killing and striking. Our Muhammad is the best of all creation, the most excellent of messengers, and the most noble of prophets. My sins have overwhelmed me, and my soul is sick; I fear, for what I have committed, the wrath of the Lord. And we have no resource today except You; my expectation is beautiful that my sin will be forgiven. O Lord, by the Guide to You and his Companions and their followers in the east of the earth or the west, by Your Most Beautiful Names, by Your Most High Attributes, by the Tablets of Moses, by the Divine Nearness and the Veils ³⁶¹, forgive the slip of the poor one, whatever he seeks; for Your bounty to those who hope is a pouring gift. And send upon the Chosen One the purest salutation for all time, or as long as the east wind sways the swaying branches. End (210). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of manifest unveilings ³⁶² and beneficent theophanies ³⁶³. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of divine robes ³⁶⁴ and the sovereign kingdom. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of the secret and speciality, and the holy openings ³⁶⁵. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of nearness and belovedness. And the divine descents ³⁶⁶ and the qayyumic secrets ³⁶⁷ (211). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of pure souls, good character, and pleasing states. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of intelligent minds, divine sciences ³⁶⁸, and lofty understandings. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of attractive snatchings ³⁶⁹, and bestowed gnoses and knowledges. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of selection and love, of choice and nearness (212). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of taste and drink, and the believers who take refuge with them from fear and terror. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of longing and affection, of compassion, succor, and supply. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of righteousness and guidance, of benefit to lands and servants. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of true discernment and expressive, indicative states (213). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of miraculous graces ³⁷⁰, clear signs, and shining lights. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of yearning spirits, sublime excellences, and aspiring determinations. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of struggle and patience, of worship, recitation, and remembrance. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of succor and victory, of might, care, and glory (214). O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of honor and rank, the beneficial antidote for brokenness and restoration. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of prohibition and command, of perfect disposal, lofty station, and great importance. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing that flows upon our tongues with what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of praise and gratitude, of absence in Your beauty and of sobriety and intoxication.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of admonition and deterrence, and the reminding of proud souls with the signs of fear and subjugation ³⁷¹. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and upon his family, a blessing that protects us by it from gradual entrapment and deception, and preserves us by its blessing from the assault of temporal calamities and the blows of fate, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of fame and manifestation, and of expansion, delight, and joy. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of magnification and piety, and of perseverance in acts of obedience and magnifying rewards. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of firmness and empowerment, and of truthfulness, sincerity, and certainty. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad ³⁷² a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of witnessing and designation, and of litanies, daily recitations, and spiritual instruction. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of glories and virtues, and of high stations and ranks. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of gifts and endowments, and of pure methodologies and schools. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of supplication and repentance, and of humility and answered prayers. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints ³⁷³ the people of intelligence and nobility, and of beautiful character and pleasing actions. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of correctness in opinion and accuracy, and of observance of limits in legal rulings, recording, and writing. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of contentment and submission, and of wisdom, benefit, and teaching. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of intimate conversation and speech, and of awe, majesty, and glorification. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints ³⁷⁴ the people of glory and exaltation, and of high status, lordship, and honor. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of insight and verification, and of love, intention, and affirmation. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, a blessing by which You cause to flow upon our tongues what pleases You and pleases Your saints, the people of inspiration and guidance, and of success and knowledge of hidden things and subtle points of precision. So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and upon his family, a blessing that guides us by it to the path of truth and the straight way, and makes it for us in this world and the Hereafter the best companion and the most excellent friend, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. * Far be it that a youth who clings to them should fail * Far be it that a door of good should be closed to him * It is the right of a man who seeks refuge and traces his lineage to them * To be granted every virtue from their side * By an oath on them—sufficient is an oath on them— * And I am the youth who, without the oath, is more truthful * Their followers on the Day of Resurrection, for their Lord, * Will not fear, will not drown, will not be burned ³⁷⁵ * And when the heart of a person is purified in love for them, * And upon it is a coat of ink that has been smoothed, * And he has erased from his self and his existence, * By their tongue, he speaks there on their behalf * By Allah, in the preservation of hearts for them, perhaps * From their treasure, in times of need, it may be spent * For their giving is abundant, great, and vast, * And other than it, if found, is scant and narrow * For their seeker, his desire is above desire, * And I am the guarantor, and what I say is verified * O joy for love of them, when there has been unveiled * To its beholder this absolute beauty O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the kind and merciful, and Your prophet, the affectionate and forbearing, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and by which You are pleased with us, O Allah, O Forbearing, O Generous, O Kind, O Merciful, O Compassionate, O Unique, O Omnipotent, O Benign, O Wise. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, the oft-returning and forbearing, and Your chosen one, the intimate and interlocutor, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and by which You are pleased with us, O Allah, O All-Hearing, O All-Seeing, O All-Knowing ³⁷⁶ O Almighty, O Compeller, O Supreme, O High, O Magnificent, O Judge, O Just, O Subtle, O All-Aware, O First, O Last, O Eternal, O Everlasting, O Ancient. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master and lord Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, great in rank and station, and Your chosen one, clear in proof and evidence, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and by which You are pleased with us, O Allah, O Ancient of forgiveness and beneficence, O Great of dominion and sovereignty, O Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the Criterion, O He who is every day in a state.

A matter, O He whose knowledge is in this place and in every place. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, Your beloved, pure of heart and soul, and Your chosen one, abundant in grace and favor, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and with which You are pleased with us, O Allah, O Compassionate, O Benefactor, O Truth, O Reckoner, O Watcher, O Answerer, O He who is transcendent above likeness and peer and the accidents of time, O He whom ages do not wear out and times and seasons do not change ²²¹. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the physician of sick hearts and the cure of their antidote, and the collyrium of eyes that slumber in Your obedience and the light of their pupils, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and with which You are pleased with us, O Allah, O Beautiful, O Beneficent, O Bountiful, O Initiator of blessings before their deserving, O Originator, O Restorer, O Living, O Self-Subsistent, O Mender of the fracture of broken hearts after their splitting. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the wealth of the destitute and the treasure of their expenditure, and the Enricher of the dependents of the poor and the Remover of their poverty, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and with which You are pleased with us, O Allah, O Protector, O Rich, O Opener, O Provider, O Generous, O Bestower, O Possessor of abundance, O Opener of closed doors after their shutting, O Reliever of barren wombs after their constriction. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the cup of the wine of divine love and the taste of its flavor, and the gift of longing souls ²²² and the locus of their yearning, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and with which You are pleased with us, O Allah, O Creator, O Maker, O Fashioner, O King, O Holy, O Peace, O Faithful, O Guardian, O Unifier of hearts that are at variance after their separation, and Restrainer of souls that stray from obedience after their release. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the essence of the lofty tree of glory and the root of its origins, and the Rescuer of the drowning from the mires of desires and the Reliever of their choking, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and with which You are pleased with us, O Pardoner, O Forgiver, O Acceptor of repentance, O Extender of hands with mercy, and Reviver of dead trees after the fall of their leaves, and Ransomer of souls pledged in the bond of their sins and the captivity of their fetters. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master and lord Muhammad and to the family of our master Muhammad, the agate of the necklaces of the living and the delight of their precious stones, and the breeze of the fragrant basil of bodies and the musk of their collars, a blessing that pleases You and pleases him and with which You are pleased with us, O Loving, O Thankful, O Guide, O Patient, O Great in favor, O Beautiful in overlooking, O Abundant in pardon, O Remover of the worries of the distressed and Eliminator of great calamities and crises of grief after their onset, and Extinguisher of the fire of trials and the blaze of the scorching heat after ²²³ its burning, O He to Whom belong creation and command, and in Whose hand is the dominion of all things, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Muhammad is singled out with the name of praise * from the Praised One ³⁷⁷ it was derived. The Imam of the messengers and their chosen one * and the most generous of them and the most manifest in scope. A Prophet about whom the Merciful revealed * Tabarak ³⁷⁸, and al-Duha ³⁷⁹, and al-Inshiqaq ³⁸⁰. He is the generosity that filled creation * he is the knowledge that rode the Buraq ³⁸¹. A Prophet who continually ascended high * until he surpassed the seven heavens ³⁸². Allah unsheathed him for Islam as a sword * by which He removed misguidance and hypocrisy. And he was for the people of Allah's religion a glory * and for the battle when it stands on leg. And he scattered the might of the tyrannical sects * and quenched from them the thin swords. And he encompassed creation with nobility and generosity * so when he gave, he excelled and never slackened. Will you accept, O Muhammad, the excuse of a servant * who yearns for you from the depth of longing? He has come to you, the visitor from the regions * urging the swift mounts and the she-camels. And my sins have hindered me from you, so know * that sin has stopped me and prevented. I have come to you, my master, with an excuse, so turn * to me when the space has become narrow for me. My steps have fallen short of you because of sins * and my sin, I cannot with it be released ²²⁴. So be my shade tomorrow and the intercessor for my sin * and from your pool, give me a full drink. And comfort with acceptance the strange words of mine * and a soul that is choked by its author. For sins have possessed me as a slave * but I have hoped through you for emancipation. And how can one like me fear the blast of fire * while a neighbor of yours does not fear penetration? Upon you be the blessing of your Lord as long as the winds of the sky * compete and race. Its author—may Allah illuminate his insight with the lights of divine gifts and gnosis and purify his innermost being from the filth of doubts in secret and in public—said: When I had finished the gems of these prayers and completed the purpose from them, and repelled from me the obstacle of laziness that occurred during the time of their composition, and sought therein the pleasure of Allah and the pleasure of His Messenger, His prophets, His saints, and the Companions, whose benefit is hoped for in this world and the Hereafter and which fulfills the obligatory duty, I appended to that this famous prayer of blessing and miracles, granting its reciter the highest ranks and loftiest stations, which has been narrated from some of the great ones that whoever recites it ²²⁵ after the night prayer ten times, it will be a ransom for him from the Fire and will expiate for him all major sins and liabilities. And it is this: O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the number of his perfection. And I appended to it what is fitting to be its completion, and by which the one praying enters the company of its people and follows its order. So I say: O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the number of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have hidden in the lights of his beauty and loveliness, and clothed with the splendor of his might and majesty ²²⁶. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the number of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those upon whom You have bestowed the vision of his countenance and crescent, and quenched them from the overflow of his generosity and the abundance of his gift. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the number of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have attached to him and made them of his household, and made them happy with his proximity and favored them with his union. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the number of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those whom You have immersed in love for him and love for his Companions.

And his family, and You created them with his beautiful character and adorned them with the sash of his Muhammadan traits and his sayings. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who preserved his station and clung to his hem, and sought refuge in his inviolable rank from the vicissitudes of time, its earthquakes, and its terrors ³⁸³. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who, through the blessing of invoking blessings upon him, were protected in his station and his travels, and You bestowed upon them every subtle grace in their fluctuations and all their states. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who unloaded the burdens of their heavy loads in his spacious courtyard, and delighted their sight in his illuminated landmarks, his quarters, and his ruins. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we become among those for whom You sealed with the testimony at the end of their life and the expiry of their terms, and granted them security from the trial of the grave, its upheavals, and its terrors, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. Allah gave from the presence of His majesty a vastness that manifested from the heaven of His beauty to Muhammad, the secret of guidance, and placed him in the highest heights in his state and his end. Thus, the gifts of the Divine became known to us through him, from His bounty, His giving, and His bestowal. And all is from Him, despite the diversity of manifestations, for which wisdoms witnessed that appeared from His sublime. The people of reality ³⁸⁴, those who know Him, and those who possess the sanctity of proximity in the purity of union with Him, while the unseen witnessed them, and the light of His attributes is unveiled by them with the removal of the veil in its perfection. So they delighted in the meadow of His might, enjoying themselves there under His shade. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those whose hearts are filled with love for his wives, his offspring, and his family, and who excelled in praising him and diversified in mentioning his traits, the beauties of his stature, and his moderation. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who became intoxicated with the wine of his love and the Salsabil of his flowing, and found intimacy in their wakefulness and sleep with the vision of his face and the phantom of his image. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who yearned to see his pure places, his eras, and his sands, and flew with the wing of longing to his illuminated station in his journey and his travels. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection ³⁸⁵, a blessing by which we become among those who sacrificed themselves in visiting his noble grave and gave generously of their soul and wealth, and interceded through his rank with You, so You accepted his intercession for their ailments, the whisperings of their mind, and their madness. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who rolled their protected youth in his blessed courtyards and the places where his sandals trod, and followed him in his pure conduct and beautiful deeds. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who strolled in the gardens of his beauties and enjoyed the beauty of his gazelle, and delighted in hearing his delightful speech and his pleasant sayings. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who sought refuge in his lofty presence, and it released them from the prison of their bonds and shackles, and watched over them with the eye of Your kindness in their stillness and movement, their residence and travel. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, a blessing by which we become among those whom You adorned with the jewelry of his Chosen praise and the necklaces of his pearls, and whose hearts You molded on love for him ³⁸⁶ and love for his wives, his offspring, his retinue, and his patrons, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. I long for the covenant of al-Muḥaṣṣab from Minā, and a life whose shades were tender. And how lovely are its waters and its breeze, and how lovely are its eras and its sands. And alas, when his visitation became distant from me, and my sorrow when his gazelle disappeared from me. How many a desire I have between al-Marwa and al-Ṣafā, and a full moon that the curtains have veiled. His discourse dwells in my heart wherever I am, and his phantom appears to my eye wherever it goes. And remember the days that have passed, and they made me forget, as if I were a fallen one afflicted by madness. And O my companion at al-Khayf, assist me when the pilgrims depart from there. And take the side of the valley, thus, to its right, where the lances sway, tall. There you will see a house of Zaynab, radiant; when you come, its majesty will not be hidden from you. So say, imploring: 'O crow, and whoever has tasted the like of this, his remedy knows not how to contrive.' And be thus until you find an opportunity to attain what you seek and obtain it. Then mention me when Zaynab hears, and say: 'His mind is not free of you for a moment.' Perhaps when my name passes by her ear, she will say: 'So-and-so, how is he with you?' O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect Prophet, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection ³⁸⁷. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the excellent Messenger, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those whose souls witnessed the perfection of his veneration and exaltation, and whose thoughts found repose in the carpet of proximity through the spirit of his intimacy and his familiarity. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the Sultan and the Just, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those whose limbs submitted to obedience to his command and compliance, and whose hearts humbled before his exhortations, his supplication, and his entreaty. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the learned and the practicing, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who drank from his purest spring and flowing fountain, and entered under the banner of his established glory and the shade of its canopy. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the brought near and the one who has attained union, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection, a blessing by which we become among those who won the race in his love and attained thereby the best of his gifts, and through his blessing were secured from the darkness of the grave and the trial of the account and its questioning ³⁸⁸. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the comprehensive good, and to his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of his perfection.

For the sake of Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those who have made his delightful praise the recreation of their mind and occupied their thought, and fortified themselves with it from the terror of the Day of Resurrection and its disgrace and its burden. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the pouring generosity ³⁸⁹, and to his family, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those who have been immersed in the love of his auspicious one ³⁹⁰ and his letter Hā ³⁹¹ and his letter Dāl ³⁹², and defended his honored Sunnah with the tongue of their speech and their state. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which we become among those whom You have protected from the plots of Satan and his misguidance and his error, and preserved from the evil of punishment and its chains and its fetters and its chastisement, 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 Muhammad, the overflowing sea ³⁹³ in his outpouring and his giving, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those who have sought blessing in all their affairs through his Muhammadan name and his omen ³⁹⁴, and cast off restraint at the sight of his flourishing gardens and his valleys and his mountains. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the shining full moon ³⁹⁵ in its rising and its appearance, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those who have become skilled in the sciences of his Hadith and the knowledge of its narrators, and spent their lives in collecting his Ahmadian ³⁹⁶ characteristics and enumerating his qualities. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the beautiful and splendid ³⁹⁷ in his radiance and his beauty, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those whose love has blended with their veins and their joints, and who have been devoted to his remembrance in their mornings and evenings and their early hours and their late hours. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the trustworthy and truthful ³⁹⁸ in his news and his speech, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those upon whom You have bestowed the understanding of the meanings of Your Mighty Book and the solving of its symbols and its forms, and have hidden their mind in the acquisition of its benefits until they preferred that over the important matters of their affairs and all their occupations. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the kind and merciful ³⁹⁹ to his community and his dependents, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those who have made the blessing upon him a means for the facilitation of their affairs and the unlocking of their locks, and have attained the greatest share of the spoils of his secrets and the gifts of his bounties. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the hidden bride ⁴⁰⁰ in his entirety and his veils, and to his family, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those who have cut, with the swords of his Mustafawian ⁴⁰¹ proofs, the backs of the people of opposition and argument, and have fought for his prophetic Sunnah with the blades of their swords and their spears and their arrows. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect master ⁴⁰² in his affairs and his states, and to his family, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those whom He has overwhelmed with His bounty and generosity and favor, and led along the paths of success in their turning to You and their approach. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the infallible prophet ⁴⁰³ in his words and his deeds, and to his family, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, with a blessing by which we become among those who, through the secret of His care, have been preserved from the incitements of Satan and his ambush, and have been saved from his plots and his deception and his cunning and his trickery. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing by which we become among those upon whom You have bestowed the forgiveness of their sin and its annihilation in the realm of pardon and its dissolution, and have freed their neck from the Fire and saved them from the blazing flame of Hellfire and the heat of its fuel and its ignition, 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 Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your generosity and Your giving and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your glory and Your praise and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your attributes and Your names and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your permanence and Your eternity and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your favors and Your bounties and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your openings ⁴⁰⁴ and Your gifts and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your sciences and Your wisdoms and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your secrets and Your lights and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your succor and Your support and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your dominion and Your sovereignty and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your generosity and Your beneficence and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your grace and Your favor and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the perfect prophet, and to his family, with a blessing and peace that have no end, as there is no end to Your pardon and Your forgiveness and the count of His perfection. So bless him, O Allah, and his family with a blessing befitting the honor of His care and the might of His majesty, with no end to them as there is no end to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, and grant abundant peace. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Lord, bless the Prophet and his family, as long as a lover is bewildered by his exquisite beauty, between the letter Ḍād ⁴⁰⁵ of the bent ⁴⁰⁶ and its shades, the infatuated one has strayed and been guided by his straying.

For the lover, distance has grown upon his workers, and by that Yemeni people, a death is continuous, if I am not a guardian. O my companion, this is al-‘Aqiq ⁴⁰⁷, so stop by it, sending my tears in it instead of sending them. Look at it for me if a path has hindered me, it knows my heart in its love and its state. Ask the gazelle of its thicket ⁴⁰⁸ whether he has, since he remained distracted by the glory of his beauty, and I think he did not know the humiliation of my passion. May my soul, which has perished, ransom him, and no favor from him, for it is from his property. Do you think he knows that I yearn for his abandonment, since I was longing for him as for his union? I spend the night sleepless, imagining his phantom for the eye, that I might meet the image of his beauty. May I never taste rest from a just one, if I have inclined to his sayings and his talk. By the truth of the beloved's good pleasure and his union, my heart's love has not inclined to weariness. Ah, for the sweet water, and how can I, with my innards, if it could be quenched by the coolness of its pure water? Indeed, its water is too exalted for my longing, in honor, so O my thirst for its shining high one. And in this prayer there is another narration in which the Perfect Prophet ⁴⁰⁹ is not found, and it was heard from some trustworthy scholars that reciting it seven times is also a ransom, and it was not restricted to a time. Its wording is: O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. The author also appended it with the addition of these words: O Allah, bless and grant peace to our master Muhammad, the model of Your prophets, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the essence of Your chosen ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the elite of Your saints, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the support of Your pious ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the intelligence of Your intelligent ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the choice of Your beloved ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the imam of Your successors, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the master of Your nobles, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the insight of Your knowers, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the mercy of Your weak ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the treasure of Your poor ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the tongue of Your wise ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the eloquent of Your eloquent ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the orator of Your companions, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the most just of Your witnesses, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the most fortunate of Your fortunate ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the most generous of Your generous ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the imam of Your excellences, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the trustworthy of Your trustees, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the special one of Your messengers, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the sultan of Your great ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the best of Your nobles, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the city of Your scholars, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the intercessor of Your freed ones, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the means of Your intercessors, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. O Allah, bless our master and lord Muhammad, the mercy of the people of Your earth and heaven, and his family, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection. So bless him, O Allah, and his family, as many as in Your knowledge is existing or has been, a blessing without end, as there is no limit to Your perfection and the count of His perfection, and grant abundant and exalted peace. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. * This is the crescent of perfection from his garden * The face of perfections shone, not concealed. * This is the beautiful one whose forelock's tuft * Is more beautiful than the beauty of Joseph at sight. * This is Muhammad, the spirit of the spirit, from him were watered * The spirits, the wine of guidance, pure without turbidity. * This is Muhammad, the light of the universe, the light of guidance, * The light of stars, the light of intellect and thought. * This is Muhammad, the adornment of adornment, from whom shone * The suns of splendor in desert and settled land. * This is Muhammad, whose praises are fragrant * In diffusion, so excellent is the musk with its sweet scent. * This is Muhammad, the highest of people in rank, * Lofty in station, lofty in glory and pride. * This is Muhammad, whose prophethood appeared * While the universe was veiled in the darkness of concealment. * This is Muhammad, from whose manifestation appeared * The appearances of the forenoon sun to every observer. * This is Muhammad, of whose community boasted * By his pride, so it rose above every boaster. * This is Muhammad, for whose help came * The angels swiftly, like the blink of an eye. * This is Muhammad, by whom high stations rose * To the distance of two bow-lengths ⁴¹⁰ in might and pride. Its author, may Allah accept his deed and fulfill his request and hope from the good of both abodes, said: When I finished recording this prayer of great worth, abundant reward and recompense, I appended to it another prayer of great importance, fragrant breeze and scent, pleasant in recitation and remembrance, which was narrated from some Easterners that it is recited ten times after reciting the Prophetic hadith. The Shaykh, the Imam, the model, the blessing, the valiant, Abu Salim, my master Abdullah al-‘Ayyashi ⁴¹¹, mentioned in his travelogue when he discussed what he recited in the honored and venerated Medina, its text: A subtlety: I saw in a dream at the beginning of my recitation of the Shama’il ⁴¹² that our companion, the elder Shaykh Abd al-Karim al-Tamtam ⁴¹³, brought me a rosary of precious jewels and rubies, and he began to show me its beauties, and I was greatly delighted with it. The next day, after we finished the lesson, Shaykh Abd al-Karim began the prayer upon the Prophet (peace be upon him) with this prayer, which is customary for the shaykhs to conclude lessons with in all Eastern lands, Egypt, Syria, and the Hijaz. It is this: O Allah, bless the best of prayers...

They repeat them three times in every lesson, especially the hadith lessons, and we continued reciting them upon finishing the reading until the end of the book. So I interpreted the dream I saw, and by my life, it is a true dream. If the prayer upon the Prophet (peace be upon him) is not in acts of worship like jewels and rubies in wealth, then nothing else in acts of worship is more deserving of this description (end). And I made it a completion of what preceded, hoping to attain its great virtue and immense, tremendous reward. Its text is as follows, from my master Abdullah al-Ayyashi ⁴¹⁴, may God have mercy on him: O God, send the best prayer upon the best of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance. (246) And according to what the Maghribis ⁴¹⁵ have: O God, send the best prayer upon the noblest of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. And I appended its words with an addition of some words to complete the attainment of what is sought and the achievement of what is desired: O God, send the most complete prayer upon the most perfect of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most beautiful prayer upon the most sublime of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace. (247) O God, send the most exalted prayer upon the key of Your openings ⁴¹⁶, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the highest prayer upon the manifestation of the lights of Your glories ⁴¹⁷, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the purest prayer upon the locus of the jewels of Your descents ⁴¹⁸, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most luminous prayer upon the mount of Your self-disclosures ⁴¹⁹, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (248) O God, send the highest prayer upon the tablet of Your receptions ⁴²⁰, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the highest prayer upon the ascension of Your elevations ⁴²¹, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the clearest prayer upon the descent of Your nearness ⁴²², our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the clearest prayer upon the precedent of the light of Your individuations ⁴²³, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (249) To the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most just prayer upon the most compassionate of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most majestic prayer upon the most merciful of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most comprehensive prayer upon the most generous of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most abundant prayer upon the most forbearing of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace. (250) To the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most complete prayer upon the first of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most pleasant prayer upon the essence of Your creations, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the highest prayer upon the most delightful of Your made things, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O God, send the most fruitful prayer upon the full moon of Your existences ⁴²⁴, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (251) O God, send the most fulfilling prayer upon the breeze of Your spiritualizations ⁴²⁵, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace, to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and remember him, and those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance.

O Allah, send the most radiant blessing upon the bridegroom of Your presences, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most desirable blessing upon the locus of Your gazes, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the strongest blessing upon the eye of Your mercies, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (252) O Allah, send the most blessed blessing upon the source of Your affections, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most felicitous blessing upon the garden of Your breezes, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most complete blessing upon the locus of the manifestation of Your perfections, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most comprehensive blessing upon the seal of Your messages, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (253) O Allah, send the most enduring blessing upon the repository of Your trusts, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most lasting blessing upon the fortress of Your protection, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most mighty blessing upon the proof of Your signs, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the greatest blessing upon the master of the people of Your earth and heavens, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (254) O Allah, send the most beloved blessing upon the secret of Your words, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most beneficial blessing upon the means of approach to You, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most exalted blessing upon the lamp of Your sainthood, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most abundant blessing upon the crown of Your care, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (255) O Allah, send the greatest blessing upon the path of Your guidance, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the purest blessing upon the cave of Your protection, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most beautiful blessing upon the object of Your will, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. O Allah, send the most blessed blessing upon the path of Your felicity, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant peace to the number of Your knowledge and the ink of Your words, whenever those who remember remember You and him, and whenever those who are heedless are heedless of Your remembrance and his remembrance. (256) So send blessings, O Allah, upon him and upon his family, the houses of Your honor and glory, and upon his companions, the springs of Your sciences and beneficence, a blessing by which You honor us with Your nearness and vision, and by which You make us among those specially favored with Your oneness, sealed for them with Your good pleasure and death upon the two words of Your testimony, by Your grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. * This Meccan youth, his countenance suffices you * In the darkness of polytheism, a brilliant full moon appeared * So say to one who does not encompass knowledge of his rank * Over the prophets, let him ask one who recited and learned * There is no exaggeration in his praise, by the Mount * And the Light, and the Criterion, and the Poets * How often Quraysh visited him, while knowing * That he is the best of humans above the earth * And how often he observed, with forbearance, the right of their sanctity * Following in their regard the warnings and admonitions * He meets the evildoers with goodness, as is his custom * And extends forgiveness to the sinners, though able * Blessed is his name, rain is sought through him * The succor of widows, orphans, and the poor * The refuge of seekers, the treasure of petitioners when * The years pass, their rains withheld * O mercy of God, alive, a garden forever * Over me, my shade, and my house, wherever he is buried * A gift from a prisoner of sin, hoping * That God may release, through forgiveness, those He has imprisoned * To you, O possessor of vast intercessory power, have cast * Me my hopes, and the arm that has fallen short * Seeking redress from a time with no helper * Hoped for besides You, no refuge, no shelter. (257)

I hope for glad tidings in both abodes ⁴²⁶ as a reward * for letters from me to you that resemble pearls. You are my wealth, my hope, my reliance, * and my proof on the day I meet God apologizing. By the right of your station ⁴²⁷, may the shade of praise cover me * with the Beloved ⁴²⁸ when the fire flares up with sparks. From me to you a blessed greeting * that grows and encompasses evenings and mornings. As long as the flower of green gardens smiles * or the wind embraces a swaying green branch, It is especially for the souls of those who migrated with him ⁴²⁹, * and the Followers ⁴³⁰, and those who gave shelter and support, Connected to God's perpetuity, enduring * as long as lightning flashes from the highlands of Hijaz. O God, O He to whom complaint is raised and to whom the matter returns in secret and whispered counsel, and by whose grace hardships are relieved and the greatest of calamities and trials are repelled. O He who sees and is not seen, and He is in the highest sight. O Lord of earth and heaven, O He who is exalted above the grasp of intellects and understandings and is transcendent. I ask You by the sanctity of our master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, perfect in attributes and names, possessor of the lofty rank and supreme station, the best of those to whom the sinner clings to his great court and his protected honor, that You treat with Your effective antidote ⁴³¹ one whose illness has become severe, whose cure is difficult, whose malady has grown great, whose remedy is scarce, whose stratagem has weakened, and whose trial has intensified, while You are his refuge and shelter. And to You is his supplication and entreaty in hardships and tribulations. O He whose grace encompasses all servants, whose generosity and blessings encompass all creatures. O Most Merciful of the merciful. My God, I am Your servant, in need of what is with You, poor, awaiting Your generosity and gift, a sinner asking You for forgiveness, fearful, hoping for Your pardon, generosity, and favor. An evil-doer, a disobedient one—perhaps a repentance whose lights may clear the darkness of evil and disobedience, and a blessed glance that illuminates the heart and revives the dead in shrouds. Humbled, submissive, extending the hand of poverty, asking You for pardon, generosity, and beneficence. Imprisoned, bound by the chain of aversion, severance, and abandonment, confined from reaching the presence of witnessing and the stations of proximity and nearness. Perhaps his chain may be loosened and he may be released from the prison of desire to the carpet of pardon and forgiveness and the stations of contentment and pleasure. O Mighty, O Forbearing, O Merciful, O Compassionate, O Tender, O Benefactor, O Sovereign, O Judge. O He in whose hand are the keys of the treasuries of generosity. O Exalted in rank, O Great in dominion and sovereignty. O He who is every day in a new state. O Most Merciful of the merciful. My God, have mercy on one for whom the worlds have become narrow, and the two heavy ones ⁴³² have not comforted him, and he has become bewildered and perplexed. And he has become a stranger even among his family and homeland, disturbed, with no place to shelter him, restless, not distracted from his grief and sorrow by the change of time. He calls upon You with the call of the distressed, the grieved, the overcome, the vanquished, who finds no one to remove what afflicts him but You, and seeks no one to lift what has befallen him except You. So have mercy, my Master, on his lowliness and humility, comfort his strangeness and loneliness, remove his anxiety and fear, relieve his poverty and need, answer his request and desire, forgive his sin and offense, accept his deed and repentance, and direct him to You through annihilation ⁴³³ in You and independence from other than You through You, and subsistence ⁴³⁴ with You by the light of Your knowledge and the secret of Your wisdom. Realize him with the realization of servitude, grant him the fulfillment of the rights of lordship, extricate him from the mires of self-management and choices while maintaining constant vigilance of You and fear of You, so that no opposition in the command occurs from him outwardly, nor any defect inwardly. Guide him on the path of Your righteous saints and Your elect, the near ones. For the circle of Your forbearance is vast in generosity and kindness, and the enclosure of Your gentleness repels evils and punishments. Accept the intruder ⁴³⁵ when he honors Your door, and tolerate the meddler when he alights at the spacious courtyard of Your vastness and arrives. The sea of Your generosity encompasses the evil-doers and the good-doers, and the court of Your pardon includes the disobedient and the sinners. So include all with Your beneficence and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. My God, this is my lowliness apparent before You, and this is my state not hidden from You. So from You I seek arrival to You, and by Your generosity and kindness I seek evidence of You. So guide me with Your light to You, and establish me in truth of servitude before You. For I possess for myself neither benefit nor harm, nor giving nor withholding, nor do I trust in any of that in its existence or non-existence, its origination or pre-eternity. Rather, I trust in Your vast grace, and I rely on Your generosity, which every desirous and hopeful one covets. For all my virtues are faults, all my realities are claims, all my states are blameworthy, all my deeds are ugly and base. I rely only on what You have accustomed me of Your beneficence, and I rejoice only in what You have bestowed upon me of the gifts of Your grace and favor. So I ask You, my Master, by what You know of my deficient attributes and what I know of Your perfect attributes, and I seek You and desire from the perfection of Your grace, that You bestow upon me arrival to the reality of knowledge of You, and favor me with Your proximity on the carpet of Your intimacy, so that I may whisper to You through You to You from You for You in the presence of Your holiness. I have no stratagem left to rely on, nor any power to claim, except Your grace that has overwhelmed me, Your generosity that has encompassed me and embraced me, Your beneficence that You have granted me, and Your favor that You have accustomed me. For You are the First before everything.

Everything and nothing is with You, and You are the Manifest ⁴³⁶ through Your overwhelming power and sovereignty, and the Hidden ⁴³⁷ through Your bounties and beneficence. So meet me with Your pardon and forgiveness, and regard me with Your grace and favor, O Most Merciful of the merciful. My God, You are the Knower of our sins, so forgive them; You are the Observer of our faults, so conceal them; You are the Knower of our needs, so fulfill them; and with what our souls desire (261) of various kinds of good, be pleased with it. And grant us success, O Allah, in obeying You, so that You do not see us where You have forbidden us, nor miss us where You have commanded us. Honor us with obedience and do not disgrace us with disobedience. Continue Your pardon and well-being upon us, and do not deprive us of Your favors which You have bestowed upon us, O Generous in giving, O Great in forgiveness, O Beautiful in overlooking, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, O Lord of lords, O Great in majesty, O Vast in expanse, have mercy on one whose means have become straitened, whose doors have been closed, who finds it difficult to follow the path of right, whose life has passed in frivolity and heedlessness, and for whom no opening has been made to the spacious holy presences and stations of nearness and proximity, while his days have ended and his soul is still grazing in the pastures of desires, immersed in pleasures and evil acquisitions. And You are the hope for removing this affliction, O He who, when called upon, answers, and when asked, gives and bestows upon the servant more than what is desired and opens the door. My Lord, do not veil my supplication by Your grace, nor reject my request by Your generosity, nor leave me, O my Master, restless in my confusion, nor entrust me to my own strength and power. Have mercy on my weakness, poverty, and destitution, for my breast is straitened, my thought is bewildered, and I am perplexed in my affair. You are the Knower of my secret and public, the Owner of my benefit and harm, the One able to relieve my distress and ease my hardship. So relieve, O Allah, from the greatest of hardships what has darkened my time (262), and in which my stratagem has failed and my patience has weakened. Forgive me for the enormities of sins that have burdened my neck and broken my back. Loosen my bonds from the shackle of desires and free my captivity. Deal with me according to Your generosity and kindness, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds. And for our master the father—may Allah illuminate his grave and grant him spacious gardens—in supplication and entreaty to Allah, and seeking intercession through the great men of virtue, these verses are: O Lord, O Lord, O Lord, O Lord, O He who is sanctified beyond being compared to a lord.

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1. al-‘ārif : A gnostic; one who has direct experiential knowledge of God.
2. tarjumān al-wāṣilīn : Interpreter of those who have attained union with God.
3. khātimat al-sālikīn : Seal of the wayfarers; the last of those on the spiritual path.
4. al-majdhūbīn : Those attracted to God; a state of spiritual attraction.
5. tanawwur al-albāb : Illumination of intellects; spiritual enlightenment.
6. al-tawassul bihā : Using them (the blessings) as a means of approach to God.
7. al-fatḥ : Opening; spiritual victory or illumination.
8. ṣalawāt : Blessings upon the Prophet; plural of ṣalāh.
9. al-awliyā’ : Saints; friends of God.
10. ahl al-mawājid : People of ecstatic states; those experiencing spiritual ecstasy.
11. al-shaṭaḥāt : Ecstatic utterances; paradoxical sayings of Sufis.
12. al-jadhabāt : Spiritual attractions; states of being drawn to God.
13. al-madānāt : Stations; spiritual ranks.
14. al-maṣāfāt : Ranks; degrees of spiritual proximity.
15. al-sarāt : Noble leaders; eminent figures.
16. karāmāt : Extraordinary graces; miracles performed by saints.
17. Ṭaybah : Another name for Medina, the city of the Prophet.
18. qāba qawsayn : Two bow-lengths; a reference to the Prophet's ascension (Quran 53:9).
19. al-ẓubā : Swords; refers to a miracle where swords spoke to the Prophet.
20. dār al-salām : Abode of Peace; Paradise.
21. ḥawḍ al-karāmah : Pool of honor; the Prophet's celestial pool in Paradise.
22. ‘Abd al-Raḥīm : Servant of the Most Merciful; likely the author's name.
23. al-ta’yīd : Support; divine assistance.
24. al-fatḥ al-qarīb : Imminent opening; near victory or spiritual opening.
25. ratq : Closed; sealed; a state of difficulty.
26. al-aqṭāb : Poles; highest spiritual authorities in Sufism.
27. al-sarāt al-anjāb : Noble leaders; eminent and generous figures.
28. al-albāb : Intellects; inner cores of understanding.
29. al-wuṣūl ilayka : Reaching You; attaining union with God.
30. ṣa‘iqū : Struck unconscious; a state of awe before divine majesty.
31. khayr al-anām : The best of creation, referring to Prophet Muhammad.
32. ḥawḍ : The Basin (Hawd al-Kawthar) reserved for the Prophet Muhammad in Paradise, from which his followers will drink.
33. yurā‘ : A reed pen, used for writing; here metaphorically for the tongue or speech.
34. Āl : Family or household; here referring to the family of the Prophet Muhammad.
35. ṣaḥā’if a‘mālinā : The scrolls of deeds, which record every action for the Day of Judgment.
36. al-Bayt al-‘Atīq : The Ancient House, i.e., the Kaaba in Mecca.
37. al-Ḥajar al-As‘ad : The Blessed Stone, i.e., the Black Stone (al-Ḥajar al-Aswad) in the Kaaba.
38. Dār al-Karāmah : The Abode of Honor, i.e., Paradise.
39. darajatan samā : A high degree or station in Paradise.
40. barzakh : An intermediate realm or isthmus between the physical and spiritual worlds.
41. Hūt : A term in Sufism referring to the innermost divine essence or the 'He-ness' of God.
42. lawḥ : The Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ) in which all destinies are inscribed.
43. tābūt : The Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing divine presence and secrets.
44. sakīnah : Divine tranquility or presence (Shekhinah).
45. furqān : The Criterion, a name for the Quran that distinguishes truth from falsehood.
46. mihrāb : A niche in a mosque indicating the direction of prayer; metaphorically a place of devotion.
47. yanābī‘a ḥikmatika : Springs of wisdom: a metaphor for divine knowledge flowing from God.
48. anwār ma‘rifatika : Lights of Your knowledge: illumination of divine gnosis.
49. al-‘ulūm al-ladunniyya : Divine sciences: knowledge granted directly by God without intermediary.
50. ḥaḍratika : Your presence: the divine court or spiritual station of nearness to God.
51. al-asḥār : Early dawn: the time before dawn, often associated with spiritual practices.
52. ‘abīr nasamatika : Fragrance of Your breath: a metaphor for divine spiritual influence.
53. ‘iṣmatika : Your infallibility: divine protection from sin.
54. zimām hidāyatika : Reins of Your guidance: metaphor for being led by God's guidance.
55. bisāṭ wilāyatika : Carpet of Your sainthood: the spiritual station of divine friendship.
56. dā’irat mamlakātika : Domain of Your kingdom: the spiritual realm of divine sovereignty.
57. anwār qayyūmiyyatika : Lights of Your Self-Subsistence: divine attributes of eternal existence.
58. ḥaqqa ‘ibādatika : As is due to You: worship in its fullest and most sincere form.
59. al-naẓar ilā wajhika al-karīm : Vision of Your noble face: the beatific vision in the afterlife.
60. tawhid : The Islamic concept of the oneness and uniqueness of Allah.
61. both worlds : Refers to the worlds of humans and jinn.
62. Basin : The Hawd, a pool in Paradise from which the Prophet Muhammad will give drink to his followers on the Day of Judgment.
63. Mawlawi : Relating to Mawlana (our master), a term of endearment for the Prophet Muhammad.
64. al-Baqi' : The cemetery in Medina where many companions and family members of the Prophet are buried.
65. pole : In Sufism, the spiritual axis or highest saint of the age.
66. Ahmadine : Relating to Ahmad, another name of the Prophet Muhammad.
67. dhikr : Remembrance of God, often referring to the Quran or litanies.
68. Sunnah : The prophetic tradition, comprising the sayings, actions, and approvals of Prophet Muhammad.
69. khullah : Intimate friendship, a special rank of love and closeness to God, particularly associated with Prophet Abraham.
70. barakah : Divine blessing, spiritual grace that brings increase and goodness.
71. Mustafan : Derived from al-Mustafa, 'the Chosen One,' a title of Prophet Muhammad.
72. Maqam : The Station of Abraham, a sacred site near the Kaaba in Mecca.
73. al-uṣūl wa al-fuṣūl : Literally 'roots and branches'; in Sufi terminology, it refers to the spiritual origins (the Prophet and saints) and the branches (the disciples and followers).
74. ṭarīq al-sulūk : The path of spiritual journeying or wayfaring towards God, a central concept in Sufism.
75. al-adhkār : Plural of dhikr, meaning remembrances of God, often through repetitive formulas or litanies.
76. al-shumūs : Literally 'suns'; here metaphorically refers to great difficulties or mighty forces that are subjugated for worship.
77. thiyāb al-khafā' : Garments of concealment; a Sufi term for the state of being hidden from public view, practicing spiritual anonymity.
78. al-fatḥ : Spiritual unveiling or opening; a Sufi term for divine illumination and insight.
79. arbāb al-aḥwāl al-ṣādiqa : Masters of truthful spiritual states; those who have genuine spiritual experiences and conditions.
80. al-asānīd : Chains of transmission; in Islamic sciences, the chain of narrators for hadith or other transmitted knowledge.
81. fanaw 'an fanā'ihim : They annihilated their own annihilation; a Sufi concept of passing away from the state of self-annihilation into the contemplation of the Prophet's essence.
82. al-'Āmiriyya : A reference to the pre-Islamic poet 'Amir ibn al-Tufayl or the tribe of 'Amir; here used as an example of worldly tales.
83. Buthayna : A beloved in classical Arabic poetry, often associated with the poet Jamil ibn Ma'mar.
84. Su'da : A beloved in classical Arabic poetry, often mentioned in the Mu'allaqat of Ka'b ibn Zuhayr.
85. al-sibṭayn : The two grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad: Hasan and Husayn.
86. Fāṭimah al-Batūl : Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, known as 'al-Batūl' (the Pure Virgin) for her piety and seclusion from worldly matters.
87. al-Muṣṭafawiyyah : Derived from 'al-Muṣṭafā' (the Chosen One), a title of the Prophet Muhammad; refers to his prophetic qualities.
88. sirr al-khuṣūṣiyyah : The secret of special intimacy or exclusive closeness to God, a Sufi term denoting a unique spiritual station.
89. al-Aḥmadī : Derived from 'Aḥmad', another name of the Prophet Muhammad; refers to his praiseworthy attributes.
90. khawāriq al-‘ādāt : Miraculous events that break the natural order, often associated with saints (karāmāt) or prophets (mu‘jizāt).
91. sara'ir wa al-tawiyyat : Inner secrets and hidden thoughts; refers to the innermost aspects of the soul.
92. salda : Hard, barren ground; metaphor for a heart hardened by desire.
93. jald : Steadfast, firm; implies patience and endurance in submission to divine will.
94. zamharir : Intense cold; mentioned in the Quran (76:13) as a contrast to the heat of hell.
95. wajd : Ecstasy or intense spiritual emotion, often in Sufi context.
96. faqd : Loss or absence; here, the world of sensation becomes as if nonexistent in the face of divine manifestation.
97. ghurra : A mark of brightness on the forehead; metaphor for prophetic light or distinction.
98. ahadi al-majd : The Unique of Glory; a divine attribute emphasizing God's oneness and majesty.
99. fard : The One; a name of God indicating His uniqueness.
100. 'ayn al-'ayn : The eye of the eye; a Sufi term for the innermost essence of divine vision.
101. Mayya, Hind, Su'da : Names of beloved women in classical Arabic poetry; here symbolize worldly attachments.
102. bu'd : Distance; paradoxically, nearness in description but far in essence.
103. salad : Hard rock; metaphor for a heart that is unresponsive or stubborn.
104. al-rida wa al-ridwan : Contentment and good pleasure; divine satisfaction with the servant.
105. wilaya wa al-'irfan : Sainthood and gnosis; spiritual knowledge and closeness to God.
106. suradiqat : Canopies or pavilions; metaphor for divine protection.
107. note number : This note is a placeholder; the text continues without a specific term.
108. hadd : Sharp; also means limit or boundary.
109. khalis al-qurban : Pure devotion; sincere drawing near to God.
110. warid rabbani : Lordly influx; a spiritual inspiration or divine influx.
111. ikhlas wa al-iqan : Sincerity and certainty; key virtues in Islamic spirituality.
112. sarrat al-a'yan : Noble essences; refers to the highest spiritual realities or beings.
113. khamr maruqa al-qawarir wa al-dinan : Wine pure from bottles and jars; metaphor for spiritual intoxication free from material impurities.
114. rizq halal : Lawful sustenance; provision that is permissible according to Islamic law.
115. wazā'if : Litanies or fixed devotional recitations, often including prayers upon the Prophet, recited at specific times.
116. qahwa wudd : Literally 'coffee of love'; a metaphorical reference to the spiritual intoxication of divine love, likened to coffee.
117. al-Khalīl : The Friend of God, referring to Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), who was cast into a fire that became cool and safe for him (Quran 21:69).
118. al-Sharīf : The Noble, a title of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
119. Tayyiba : A name for Medina, the city of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'good' or 'pleasant'.
120. Ahmad : One of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
121. Yūsufī : Referring to the beauty of Prophet Joseph (Yusuf), renowned in Islamic tradition for his exceptional physical beauty.
122. Aḥmadī : Pertaining to Ahmad, one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
123. al-Muṣṭafā : An epithet of Prophet Muhammad meaning 'the Chosen One'.
124. Quṭb : In Sufism, the spiritual pole or axis around whom the spiritual hierarchy revolves.
125. sarā : Refers to the Night Journey (Isra') of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem.
126. Masjid al-Quds : The Mosque of Jerusalem, i.e., Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the Prophet led the prophets in prayer during the Night Journey.
127. danā wa tadallā : Quranic phrase (53:8) describing the Prophet's drawing near to God during the Ascension (Mi'raj).
128. Qāba qaws : Quranic phrase (53:9) meaning 'two bows' length or closer,' describing the Prophet's proximity to God during the Ascension.
129. ‘Arsh : The Throne of God, the greatest of all created things.
130. Kursī : The Footstool of God, mentioned in the Throne Verse (2:255).
131. ‘ulūm ladunniyya : Divine or esoteric knowledge granted directly by God to the saints, often associated with Sufi gnosis.
132. khashyah : Fear of Allah combined with reverence and awe.
133. Hadrah : The Divine Presence; a Sufi term for the spiritual presence of God.
134. idhlāl : Boldness or familiarity with God, a state of intimate closeness.
135. qurb : Spiritual proximity to God.
136. wiṣāl : Union with the Divine; a Sufi concept of ultimate spiritual attainment.
137. wasāwis : Whisperings of Satan or evil suggestions.
138. al-fazaʿ al-akbar : The greatest terror; refers to the Day of Judgment.
139. Salʿ : A place near Medina, often mentioned in love poetry.
140. Abīraq : A place name; possibly a location in Arabia.
141. al-Fur : A place name; possibly a valley or region.
142. Quṭb al-Jamāl : The Pole of Beauty; a Sufi term for a spiritual master embodying divine beauty.
143. al-Ghawr : The lowlands; a region in Arabia.
144. maʿārif : Gnosis; spiritual knowledge of God.
145. ḥirz : A protective amulet or refuge; here used metaphorically for divine protection.
146. raḥīq mudām maḥabbatik : The pure wine of Your love; a Sufi metaphor for the intoxicating spiritual experience of divine love.
147. asrār ʿināyatika : Secrets of Your care; refers to hidden divine graces and special attentions.
148. ifāda : Beneficence or bestowal; here, the act of imparting knowledge or spiritual gifts.
149. al-ṭarīq al-qawīma : The straight path; synonymous with the Islamic concept of the straight path (ṣirāṭ mustaqīm).
150. al-munā wa ghāyat al-maṭlūb : Wishes and the ultimate goal; refers to the attainment of spiritual aspirations and the final objective of divine proximity.
151. al-faṭīm wa al-raḍīʿ : The weaned child and the nursing infant; metaphorically, those at different stages of spiritual development.
152. al-ḍajīʿ : One who lies down; here, a companion in bed, possibly referring to a spouse or close associate.
153. al-ṣabb al-hāʾim : The passionate, bewildered lover; a term in Sufi poetry for one deeply in love with the Divine.
154. al-ʿāshiq al-ṣarīʿ : The prostrate lover; one who falls down in ecstasy or devotion.
155. ḥimāk al-aḥmā : Your inviolable sanctuary; a protected area where entry is forbidden, symbolizing divine protection.
156. al-murīd : A disciple or seeker in a Sufi order, one who desires spiritual guidance.
157. al-fatḥ al-qarīb : The imminent victory; a Qur'anic phrase (Sūrat al-Fatḥ, 48:1) referring to divine assistance and conquest.
158. al-ṭāliʿ wa al-āfil : The rising and the setting; metaphorically, all celestial bodies or states of existence.
159. al-ʿaḍud wa al-kāhil : The arm and the shoulder; metaphorically, strength and support.
160. al-nāṭiq wa al-ṣāhil : The speaker and the neighing; possibly referring to humans and animals, or eloquent speech and natural sounds.
161. yataḏhab : Adopts a school of thought (madhhab); here, a spiritual path or methodology.
162. al-muqarrab wa al-wāṣil : The near (to God) and the one who has attained union; Sufi terms for advanced spiritual states.
163. al-zāʾir wa al-muwāṣil : The visitor and the one who maintains connection; possibly referring to pilgrims or those in constant spiritual communion.
164. adhkār : Plural of dhikr, meaning remembrances of God, often through specific formulas or prayers.
165. awrād : Plural of wird, meaning litanies or regular devotional prayers recited at specific times.
166. al-madad wa al-imdād : Spiritual supply and replenishment; divine assistance and reinforcement.
167. jihād : Struggle or striving in the path of God; can refer to both spiritual and physical struggle.
168. ḥulūl : Indwelling; a theological concept referring to God's indwelling in creation, often considered heretical in mainstream Islam.
169. ittiḥād : Union; a concept in some mystical traditions implying unity with the Divine, often rejected in orthodox Islam.
170. zuhhād : Plural of zāhid, meaning ascetics who renounce worldly pleasures for devotion.
171. shahād : Witnessing; a Sufi term for spiritual vision or direct experience of divine realities.
172. ajrās wa awtād : Bells and pegs; metaphorical terms for spiritual entities or means of intercession.
173. aqṭāb : Plural of quṭb, meaning poles or spiritual axes; highest-ranking saints in the Sufi hierarchy.
174. afrād : Plural of fard, meaning solitary ones; saints who are unique in their spiritual station.
175. tawājud : Ecstasy; a state of spiritual joy or rapture often experienced in Sufi gatherings.
176. yawm al-ḥashr wa al-tanād : The Day of Gathering and Calling; a reference to the Day of Judgment when all creatures are gathered and called.
177. al-ma'arib : Needs, aims, or desires; plural of ma'rib.
178. al-a'ajim wa al-a'arib : Non-Arabs (Persians, etc.) and Arabs; a common pairing in Islamic literature.
179. al-mashaghib : Hardships, troubles, or difficulties; plural of mashghabah.
180. al-aqwal : Words, sayings, or utterances; plural of qawl.
181. al-fuhul min al-rijal : The mighty or eminent among men; fuhul literally means 'stallions' or 'mighty ones'.
182. al-aqtāb wa al-abdāl : Terms in Sufism: al-aqtāb (sing. qutb) are the 'poles' or highest saints; al-abdāl (sing. badal) are 'substitutes' or a rank of saints.
183. murāqabah wa shuhūd : Sufi terms: murāqabah means watchfulness or mindfulness of God; shuhūd means witnessing or direct spiritual perception.
184. al-mawqif : The standing on the Day of Judgment before God.
185. madad : Spiritual supply or assistance from the Prophet, often conceived as a flow of divine grace.
186. nafaḥāt : Spiritual effusions or breaths of divine mercy and grace.
187. al-mathānī : The oft-repeated verses, referring to the seven verses of Surah al-Fatiha or the Quran in general.
188. al-hādī al-nabī : The Guide, the Prophet, referring to Prophet Muhammad.
189. al-ḥall wa al-ḥaram : The state of travel (non-sanctuary) and the state of being in the sacred precincts (Mecca/Medina).
190. ḥaẓā'ir al-uns : Enclosures of intimacy, spiritual realms of closeness to God.
191. al-dhākir : The one who remembers God or sends blessings upon the Prophet.
192. Aḥmad : Another name of Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
193. Ṭā Hā : The opening letters of Surah Ta-Ha, often interpreted as a name of the Prophet.
194. Yā Sīn : The opening letters of Surah Ya-Sin, often interpreted as a name of the Prophet.
195. Nūn : The Arabic letter Nun, the opening of Surah al-Qalam, symbolizing the inkwell or divine knowledge.
196. al-Qalam : The Pen, referring to Surah al-Qalam, symbolizing the divine instrument of writing.
197. Qibla : The direction of prayer, here metaphorically the focal point of generosity.
198. yurqā : To be charmed or treated with spiritual incantations (ruqya).
199. Salsabil : A spring in Paradise mentioned in the Quran (76:18), known for its pleasant taste and ease of drinking.
200. Hawd : The Prophet Muhammad's pond (Hawd al-Kawthar) in Paradise, from which his followers will drink on the Day of Judgment.
201. Kawthar : A river in Paradise given to the Prophet Muhammad, also the name of Surah 108 in the Quran.
202. Tasrif : A Sufi term referring to the spiritual authority or disposal of affairs granted to a saint.
203. Ta'rif : A Sufi term meaning spiritual acquaintance or intimate knowledge of God.
204. Suluk : The spiritual path or journey of a Sufi seeker towards God.
205. arbāb al-waẓā'if : Masters of litanies; those who regularly recite specific devotional prayers (awrād).
206. qudūd al-shā'iqīn : Forms of yearning ones; refers to the bodies or postures of lovers swaying in ecstasy.
207. arbāb al-mawājid : Masters of ecstatic states; Sufi term for those experiencing spiritual ecstasy (wajd).
208. dawāwīnuhu : Its collections; likely referring to collections of prayers or praises upon the Prophet.
209. al-Fattāḥ : The Opener; one of God's names, meaning He who opens doors of mercy and victory.
210. mawāhib malakūtiyya : Kingdomly gifts; spiritual gifts from the divine realm (malakūt).
211. al-ma'ārif wa al-'awārif : Gnoses and spiritual gifts; esoteric knowledge and divine bestowals.
212. al-malāḥ : Beauty; here referring to the beloved's beauty that captivates the heart.
213. al-riqq : Servitude or slavery; in Sufi context, it denotes complete submission to God.
214. al-mawlā : Master; refers to God or the spiritual master.
215. al-Muṣṭafā : The Chosen One; a title of Prophet Muhammad.
216. al-Ḥabīb : The Beloved; refers to Prophet Muhammad.
217. Ṭāhā : One of the names of Prophet Muhammad, from the Quranic chapter Taha.
218. al-liwā' : The Banner; refers to the Banner of Praise (liwā' al-ḥamd) held by the Prophet on the Day of Resurrection.
219. Jannāt al-Naʿīm : Gardens of Bliss; a name for Paradise in the Quran.
220. al-Ḥashr : The Gathering; the Day of Resurrection when all are gathered.
221. Quṭb al-siyādah : Pole of sovereignty; a Sufi term for the highest spiritual authority.
222. al-Kaʿbah : The Kaaba; the sacred house in Mecca, here used metaphorically for the Prophet as a center of devotion.
223. ʿArsh Raḥmāniyyat al-Dhāt : Throne of the mercy of the Essence; a Sufi concept referring to the Prophet as the manifestation of divine mercy.
224. Kāf 'Kun' : The letter Kaf in the divine command 'Be' (Kun); refers to God's creative power.
225. Ghayb Hūwiyyat al-Afrād : Hiddenness of the Ipsseity of the individuals; a Sufi term for the ultimate divine essence beyond attributes.
226. Ḥādī al-aẓʿān : Driver of the camels; a poetic figure for the leader of a caravan.
227. Aḥmad : Another name of Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
228. Ibn al-ʿArūsī : The poet's name; likely a reference to the author of this poem.
229. شَهِيدًا : Witness; here, Allah is sufficient as a witness to the truth of the message.
230. جَاهًا : Intercessory power or high status; refers to the Prophet Muhammad's special rank and ability to intercede.
231. قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا : Quran 7:158; a verse commanding the Prophet to declare his universal messengership.
232. مُلْكًا كَبِيرًا : Great dominion; refers to the Prophet's spiritual authority and sovereignty.
233. يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُنِيرًا : Quran 33:45-46; describes the Prophet's roles as witness, bearer of good news, warner, caller to Allah, and illuminating lamp.
234. الْحَلِيمَ الْأَوَّاهَ : The Forbearing, the Oft-Sighing; attributes of the Prophet Muhammad, indicating his patience and deep devotion.
235. إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ : Quran 48:10; a verse stating that pledging allegiance to the Prophet is equivalent to pledging allegiance to Allah.
236. مَنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللَّهَ : Quran 4:80; a verse stating that obedience to the Prophet is obedience to Allah.
237. فَآمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ الَّذِي يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَكَلِمَاتِهِ وَاتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ : Quran 7:158; a verse calling for faith in Allah and His unlettered Prophet and following him for guidance.
238. بُدُورُ الْحَيِّ : Full moons of the living; a poetic metaphor for the Prophet and his family or companions, likening them to full moons.
239. طَهَ : Taha; one of the names of the Prophet Muhammad, mentioned in Quran 20:1.
240. أَحْمَدَ : Ahmad; another name of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
241. جَوَامِعِ الْكَلِمِ : Comprehensive speech; a quality of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning he was given concise yet all-encompassing words.
242. مُصْطَفَى : Mustafa; meaning 'the Chosen One', a title of the Prophet Muhammad.
243. الْحَلِيبِيُّ : Al-Halabi; likely a reference to the poet or supplicant, possibly from Aleppo (Halab).
244. التِّرْيَاقَ الْمُجَرَّبَ : The tested antidote; a metaphor for the Prophet Muhammad as a spiritual cure.
245. al-Muṣṭafawiyya : Relating to al-Muṣṭafā, an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad meaning 'the Chosen One'.
246. al-mudāma : Literally 'intoxication'; in Sufi poetry, often refers to divine love or spiritual ecstasy.
247. shahīd bi-l-laḥāẓ : A witness by glances; a term for a lover who testifies to the beloved's beauty through direct vision.
248. al-qawāṭiʿ wa-l-qurub : The cuts and nearness; Sufi terms for spiritual stations of separation and proximity to God.
249. ribqat al-taqlīd : The noose of blind imitation; refers to following religious practices without understanding.
250. Āl Sayyidinā Muḥammad : The family of our master Muhammad; includes his descendants and close companions.
251. ʿamūd al-kashf wa-l-bayān : The pillar of unveiling and clarification; a Sufi term for direct spiritual revelation.
252. maqām al-qurb wa-l-tadānī : The station of nearness and proximity; a high spiritual station close to God.
253. aḥdāq al-baṣāʾir : The pupils of inner sight; refers to spiritual insight or intuition.
254. ʿawārif al-ʿirfān : The gifts of gnosis; divine bestowals of mystical knowledge.
255. badīʿ : Wondrous; a term for God's beauty that is beyond description.
256. al-ḥulūl wa-l-ittiḥād wa awṣāf al-ḥadathān : Incarnation, union, and attributes of temporality; doctrines rejected in Islamic theology.
257. kull yawm huwa fī shaʾn : Every day He is upon some matter; Qur'anic phrase (55:29) indicating God's continuous creative activity.
258. mashāhid al-mushāhada wa-l-ʿiyān : Witnessing places of witnessing and direct vision; Sufi terms for direct experience of God.
259. al-faḍl wa-l-imtinān : Grace and favor; divine attributes of generosity.
260. al-aḥādīth al-qudsiyya : Sacred hadiths; sayings of God narrated by the Prophet but not part of the Qur'an.
261. al-Raḥmān ʿallama al-Qurʾān... : Qur'anic verse (55:1-4): 'The Most Merciful taught the Qur'an, created man, taught him eloquence.'
262. ḍamīr al-amr wa-l-shaʾn : The conscience of the command and the affair; a Sufi term for the inner dimension of divine decree.
263. wa-ʿindahu mafātiḥ al-ghayb : And with Him are the keys of the unseen; Qur'anic phrase (6:59).
264. fa-lā yuẓhiru ʿalā ghaybihi aḥadan illā mani rtaḍā min rasūl : He does not disclose His unseen to anyone except whom He approves of as a messenger; Qur'anic verse (72:26-27).
265. al-rūḥ wa-l-rayḥān : Spirit and basil; a phrase from the Qur'an (56:89) referring to divine mercy and paradise.
266. al-furqān : The Criterion; a name for the Qur'an.
267. al-aʿyān : The entities; in Sufi metaphysics, the archetypes or fixed essences of all things.
268. al-ism al-insānī : The human name; refers to the Prophet Muhammad as the perfect manifestation of God's names.
269. ʿIlliyyīn : The highest station in Paradise, mentioned in Quran 83:18-19, often interpreted as the abode of the righteous or the record of the virtuous.
270. awtād : Literally 'pegs' or 'tent stakes'; in Sufi terminology, refers to the highest-ranking saints (aqṭāb) who are the spiritual supports of the world.
271. aqṭāb : Plural of quṭb, meaning 'pole' or 'axis'; in Sufism, the spiritual hierarchy's highest rank, the 'pole' around whom the spiritual world revolves.
272. al-Khiḍr : A mysterious figure often identified as a prophet or saint, known for his association with esoteric knowledge and immortality; mentioned in Quran 18:60-82.
273. Dhul-Qarnayn : Literally 'the two-horned one'; a righteous ruler mentioned in Quran 18:83-98, often identified with Alexander the Great or Cyrus the Great.
274. Dhul-Kifl : A prophet mentioned in Quran 21:85 and 38:48, often identified with Ezekiel or Joshua.
275. Quran 2:30 : The verse where Allah announces to the angels His intention to create a vicegerent on earth.
276. al-ʿulūm al-ladunniyyāt : Divine or esoteric sciences directly imparted by God, often associated with inner knowledge (maʿrifa) and spiritual insight.
277. Quran 2:30 : The angels' objection to the creation of Adam, fearing corruption and bloodshed.
278. Quran 2:32 : The angels' admission of ignorance after Adam demonstrated his knowledge of the names.
279. al-iṣṭifā'iyyah : The quality of being chosen or elected by God, referring to God's prior choice of Adam.
280. lā ʿilma lanā : Qur'an 2:32, the angels' admission of ignorance after being tested on the names.
281. al-Wāsiṭī : Abu Bakr al-Wasiti (d. 932), a Sufi master of the Baghdad school.
282. atajʿalu fīhā man yufsidu fīhā wa yasfiku l-dimā' : Qur'an 2:30, the angels' question to God about creating humans.
283. Ibn ʿAṭā' : Ibn 'Ata' al-Adami (d. 922), a Sufi saint from Baghdad.
284. subḥānaka lā ʿilma lanā illā mā ʿallamtanā : Qur'an 2:32, the angels' response after being unable to name the things.
285. Jaʿfar : Ja'far al-Sadiq (d. 765), the sixth Shi'a Imam, also revered in Sufism for his esoteric teachings.
286. Abū ʿUthmān al-Maghribī : Abu 'Uthman al-Maghribi (d. 983), a Sufi master from North Africa.
287. wa ʿallama ādama l-asmā'a kullahā : Qur'an 2:31, God teaching Adam the names of all things.
288. al-maqāmāt : Stations on the Sufi path, such as repentance, patience, gratitude, etc.
289. al-Jurayrī : Abu al-Hasan al-Jurayri (d. 924), a Sufi master of the Junayd school.
290. wa-idh qulnā lil-malā'ikati usjudū li-ādama fasajadū illā iblīsa abā wa-stakbara : Qur'an 2:34, the command for angels to prostrate to Adam.
291. al-ʿulūm al-ladunniyyah : Divine or inspired knowledge granted directly by God, often associated with Sufi gnosis.
292. inna baʿḍa l-ẓanni ithmun : Qur'an 49:12, a verse warning against suspicion.
293. lā ʿilma lanā illā mā ʿallamtanā innaka anta l-ʿalīmu l-ḥakīmu : Qur'an 2:32, the angels' full response.
294. al-jāḥid : The denier; one who rejects or denies, often referring to Iblis (Satan) in this context.
295. al-ṣafā : Purity; a state of spiritual clarity and sincerity in remembrance of God.
296. ru'yā : Vision; refers to Moses' request to see God (Quran 7:143).
297. tawḥīd : The oneness of God; the core Islamic doctrine of monotheism.
298. tajrīd : Abstraction; a Sufi term for stripping away all attachments to creation and focusing solely on God.
299. shay' : Thing; a term used to denote existence or entity, here implying that Iblis is part of creation and thus included in God's mercy.
300. talbīs : Confusion; a Sufi concept of veiling or disguising spiritual realities to test or conceal.
301. maqām al-jam‘ al-jamī‘ : Station of total gathering: a Sufi term referring to the state of witnessing all things as united in God.
302. ‘Azāzīl : A name for Iblis (Satan) before his fall, often associated with the angel who refused to prostrate to Adam.
303. ‘azīl : Derived from ‘azl (isolation/separation); here it plays on the name ‘Azāzīl, suggesting one who is set apart or isolated for God.
304. maqām al-‘uzla : Station of isolation: a spiritual state of being withdrawn from creation for divine communion.
305. khuṣūṣ al-khuṣūṣ : The most special of the special: the highest rank of saints or knowers of God.
306. ‘urafā’uhum : Their knowers: those possessing ma‘rifa (gnosis), i.e., spiritual knowledge of God.
307. al-mawjūd : The Existent: a name for God as the Absolute Being.
308. mushāhada : Contemplation: direct witnessing or vision of divine realities.
309. ḥaqq al-ḥaqq fī al-ḥaqq : The truth of the Truth in the Truth: a phrase indicating the ultimate reality of God in Himself, beyond all distinctions.
310. tawḥīd : The affirmation of God's oneness; the core Islamic doctrine of monotheism.
311. al-wajd : Ecstasy: a state of intense spiritual emotion or rapture in Sufism.
312. al-ṣafī al-kalīm : The chosen interlocutor: Adam, who was chosen by God and spoke with Him.
313. Qur’an 38:76 : The verse where Iblis says: 'I am better than him; You created me from fire and created him from clay.'
314. al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ : The Preserved Tablet: the heavenly tablet containing all divine decrees.
315. al-ḥaqq al-qayyūm : The Self-Subsisting Truth: a name for God, the Ever-Living, Self-Sustaining.
316. Qur’an 15:42 : The verse: 'Indeed, My servants—you have no authority over them.'
317. tawba : Repentance; turning back to God with sincere regret and resolve to abandon sin.
318. jāh : Station, rank, or intercessory status; often used to refer to the Prophet Muhammad's high standing with God.
319. tawba nāṣūḥ : Sincere repentance; a complete and pure repentance that is not followed by sin, as described in the Quran (66:8).
320. jabarutiyya : Relating to Jabarut, the realm of divine power and might, often associated with the highest spiritual stations.
321. rahbutiyya : Relating to Rahbut, a term for awe-inspiring or reverential states in Sufi cosmology.
322. raghbutiyya : Relating to Raghabut, a term for desirous or aspirational means in spiritual contexts.
323. tajalliyat al-‘azamutiyya : Manifestations of divine majesty (al-‘Azamah).
324. lahutiyya : Relating to Lahut, the realm of divinity or divine nature.
325. nasutiyya : Relating to Nasut, the realm of humanity or human nature.
326. talqiyat ilhamiyya : Inspirational receptions or divine inspirations.
327. al-ufuq al-a‘la : The highest horizon, referring to the Prophet's ascension (Mi'raj) and his proximity to God.
328. al-‘ilm al-ladunni : Divinely bestowed knowledge, often esoteric or direct from God.
329. qaba qawsayn aw adna : A Qur'anic phrase (53:9) describing the Prophet's closeness to God during the Mi'raj, meaning 'two bow-lengths or nearer'.
330. Ahmadiyya : Relating to Ahmad, one of the Prophet Muhammad's names, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
331. al-Khalil : The Friend of God, referring to Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim).
332. al-Samakayn : The two Fish (or two Bears), referring to the stars in the constellation Ursa Major or Minor, used as a symbol of high celestial rank.
333. al-Mustafa : The Chosen One, a title of Prophet Muhammad.
334. al-Habib : The Beloved, a title of Prophet Muhammad.
335. Qur'an 68:4 : The verse: 'And indeed, you are of a great moral character.'
336. al-ahadith al-qudsiyya : Sacred hadiths, sayings of the Prophet where he conveys God's words.
337. maqam hamid : The Praiseworthy Station, a rank of intercession granted to the Prophet on the Day of Judgment.
338. mihrab al-jam‘ wa al-farq : The niche of gathering and separation, a Sufi term for a spiritual state combining union and distinction.
339. Qur'an 36:1-4 : The verses: 'Ya Sin. By the Wise Qur'an, indeed you are among the messengers on a straight path.'
340. al-wasila : The means of nearness to God, a special rank granted to the Prophet.
341. al-Thurayya : The Pleiades star cluster, symbolizing the highest celestial rank.
342. al-sab' al-tibaq : The seven heavens, referring to the layers of the celestial spheres.
343. Quran 48:29 : The verse praising the Prophet and his Companions.
344. Imam al-tahqiq : The Imam of verification, a title for Abu Bakr signifying his deep spiritual realization.
345. Abu Hafs : A nickname for 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, meaning 'father of Hafs'.
346. 'Atiq : A nickname for Abu Bakr, meaning 'the freed one' or 'the noble'.
347. turja : A rose or a fragrant flower, here a heavenly greeting.
348. hawra' : A houris, a celestial maiden in Paradise.
349. al-qadīb al-aḥmar : The 'red rod' is a symbolic reference in Sufi tradition, often interpreted as a metaphor for the Prophet Muhammad or the light of divine guidance, planted in the Garden of Eden.
350. Abū Ḥafṣ : Abu Hafs is a kunya (agnomen) of Ali ibn Abi Talib, meaning 'father of Hafs'. Hafs was one of Ali's sons.
351. bayḍat al-Islām : Literally 'the egg of Islam', a metaphorical expression meaning the core or essence of Islam, or the Muslim community.
352. al-jibt : A term from the Quran (4:51) referring to false objects of worship or divination, often interpreted as idolatry or sorcery.
353. al-ṭāghūt : A term from the Quran meaning false deities, tyrants, or anything worshipped besides Allah.
354. al-anṣāb : Stone idols or altars used for sacrifice in pre-Islamic Arabia.
355. al-azlām : Arrows used for divination or seeking omens, prohibited in Islam.
356. al-Ṣiddīq : Title of Abu Bakr, meaning 'the Truthful' or 'the Verifier', given for his unwavering faith.
357. al-Fārūq : Title of Umar ibn al-Khattab, meaning 'the Distinguisher' between truth and falsehood.
358. Abū Ḥafṣ : Kunya (patronymic) of Umar ibn al-Khattab.
359. ʿUthmān : Uthman ibn Affan, the third Caliph.
360. ʿAlī : Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph and cousin of the Prophet.
361. al-Ḥujub : The Veils, referring to the divine veils that separate creation from the Divine Essence.
362. al-Kushūfāt al-ʿIyāniyya : Manifest unveilings, spiritual visions or revelations experienced by saints.
363. al-Tajalliyāt al-Iḥsāniyya : Beneficent theophanies, divine manifestations of grace and beauty.
364. al-Khilaʿ al-Rabbāniyya : Divine robes, spiritual garments bestowed by God upon His saints.
365. al-Futūḥāt al-Quddūsiyya : Holy openings, spiritual illuminations or divine disclosures.
366. al-Tanazzulāt al-ʿIndiyya : Divine descents, the self-manifestations of God in the heart.
367. al-Asrār al-Qayyūmiyya : Qayyumic secrets, mysteries related to God's attribute of Self-Subsistence (al-Qayyūm).
368. al-ʿUlūm al-Ladunniyya : Divine sciences, knowledge directly bestowed by God without intermediary.
369. al-Khaṭafāt al-Jadhbiyya : Attractive snatchings, spiritual raptures or ecstatic attractions toward God.
370. al-Karāmāt al-Khāriqa : Miraculous graces, supernatural acts performed by saints as a sign of divine favor.
371. āyāt al-takhwīf wa al-qahr : Signs of fear and subjugation: Quranic verses or divine signs that instill fear of God's power and remind of His overwhelming might.
372. ahl al-mushāhada wa al-ta'yīn : People of witnessing and designation: Sufi term for saints who have attained direct spiritual vision and are specifically appointed by God.
373. ahl al-dhakā' wa al-najāba : People of intelligence and nobility: Saints characterized by sharp intellect and noble character.
374. ahl al-majāda wa al-tafkhīm : People of glory and exaltation: Saints who are glorified and magnified by God.
375. lan yafza'ū lan yaghraqū lan yuḥraqū : They will not fear, will not drown, will not be burned: A promise of safety from the terrors of the Day of Resurrection for the followers of the Prophet's family.
376. yā samī'u yā baṣīru yā 'alīmu : O All-Hearing, O All-Seeing, O All-Knowing: Divine attributes invoked in supplication.
377. al-Mahmud : The Praised One, a name of Allah, from which the name Muhammad (the praised one) is derived.
378. Tabarak : Surah al-Mulk (67), meaning 'Blessed is He'.
379. al-Duha : Surah al-Duha (93), meaning 'The Morning Brightness'.
380. al-Inshiqaq : Surah al-Inshiqaq (84), meaning 'The Splitting Open'.
381. Buraq : The mythical steed that carried the Prophet Muhammad during the Night Journey (Isra and Mi'raj).
382. seven heavens : Refers to the seven heavens (samawat) in Islamic cosmology, which the Prophet traversed during the Mi'raj.
383. أَحْمَى : Literally 'most protected' or 'inviolable'; here referring to the Prophet's rank that provides refuge.
384. أَهْلُ الْحَقِيقَةِ : People of Reality; a Sufi term for those who have attained direct knowledge of divine truths.
385. عَدَّ كَمَالِهِ : Literally 'the count of his perfection'; a phrase indicating that the blessings are as numerous as the Prophet's perfections.
386. جَبَلْتَ قُلُوبَهُمْ عَلَى حُبِّهِ : Literally 'You molded their hearts on love for him'; a reference to divine predestination of love for the Prophet.
387. آلِهِ : His family; includes the Prophet's household, descendants, and close relatives.
388. فِتْنَةِ الْحِسَابِ وَسُؤَالِهِ : The trial of the account and its questioning; refers to the interrogation in the grave by the angels Munkar and Nakir.
389. الكَرَمِ الهَاطِلِ : The pouring generosity: a metaphor for the Prophet's abundant and continuous generosity.
390. مَيْمُونِهِ : His auspicious one: refers to the Prophet Muhammad, as 'maymun' means blessed or auspicious.
391. حَانِهِ : His letter Hā: refers to the letter 'ح' (Hā) in the Prophet's name Muhammad, symbolizing his essence.
392. دَالِهِ : His letter Dāl: refers to the letter 'د' (Dāl) in the Prophet's name Muhammad, symbolizing his attributes.
393. البَحْرِ الزَّاخِرِ : The overflowing sea: a metaphor for the Prophet's vast knowledge and generosity.
394. فَالِهِ : His omen: refers to seeking blessing through the Prophet's name or mention.
395. البَدْرِ الزَّاهِرِ : The shining full moon: a metaphor for the Prophet's radiant beauty and guidance.
396. الأَحْمَدِيَّةِ : Ahmadian: attributes related to the Prophet's name Ahmad, meaning 'most praiseworthy'.
397. الحَسَنِ الرَّائِقِ : The beautiful and splendid: describing the Prophet's physical and moral beauty.
398. الأَمِينِ الصَّادِقِ : The trustworthy and truthful: two of the Prophet's well-known epithets.
399. الرَّءُوفِ الرَّحِيمِ : The kind and merciful: attributes of the Prophet, echoing divine names.
400. العَرُوسِ المَسْتُورِ : The hidden bride: a mystical metaphor for the Prophet's spiritual beauty and veiled essence.
401. الْمَصْطَفَوِيَّةِ : Mustafawian: derived from Mustafa, 'the chosen one', referring to the Prophet.
402. السَّيِّدِ الْكَامِلِ : The perfect master: acknowledging the Prophet's complete leadership and perfection.
403. النَّبِيِّ الْمَعْصُومِ : The infallible prophet: belief in the Prophet's sinlessness.
404. فُتُوحَاتِكَ : Your openings: divine spiritual unveilings and inspirations.
405. ضَالِ : Letter Ḍād: the letter 'ض' (Ḍād), often symbolizing the Prophet's unique status.
406. الْمُنْحَنَا : The bent: possibly a reference to the curved shape of the letter Ḍād or a mystical symbol.
407. al-‘Aqiq : A valley near Medina known for its red soil, often mentioned in Arabic poetry as a place of longing.
408. gazelle of its thicket : A metaphor for the beloved, comparing them to a gazelle in a thicket (kanas), a common image in Arabic love poetry.
409. Perfect Prophet : Refers to the Prophet Muhammad, considered the perfect human being in Islamic tradition.
410. two bow-lengths : Reference to Quran 53:9, describing the Prophet's proximity to God during the Mi'raj (ascension).
411. Abdullah al-‘Ayyashi : A Moroccan scholar and traveler (d. 1679), known for his travelogue 'Rihla'.
412. Shama’il : A collection of hadiths describing the physical and moral characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad, often recited for blessings.
413. Abd al-Karim al-Tamtam : A scholar mentioned in the text, possibly a teacher or companion of the author.
414. Abdullah al-Ayyashi : A Moroccan scholar and traveler (d. 1679), known for his travelogue and Sufi inclinations.
415. Maghribis : People from the Maghreb (Northwest Africa), often referring to a specific tradition of prayer formulas.
416. key of Your openings (miftāḥ futūḥātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the key to divine openings and spiritual unveilings.
417. manifestation of the lights of Your glories (maẓhar anwār subuḥātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the locus for the manifestation of God's majestic lights.
418. locus of the jewels of Your descents (mawqiʿ jawāhir tanazzulātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the place where the precious gems of divine descents are manifested.
419. mount of Your self-disclosures (ṭawr tajalliyātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the Sinai-like mount where God's self-disclosures occur.
420. tablet of Your receptions (lawḥ talaqqiyātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the tablet receiving divine knowledge and inspirations.
421. ascension of Your elevations (miʿrāj taraqqiyātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the means of spiritual ascension to God.
422. descent of Your nearness (mahbiṭ tadalliyātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the place of God's descending nearness.
423. precedent of the light of Your individuations (sābiqat nūr taʿayyunātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the first individuation of the divine light.
424. full moon of Your existences (badrat makūnātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the full moon among all created existences.
425. breeze of Your spiritualizations (nasīm tarawwuḥātika) : Sufi term: the Prophet as the gentle breeze of divine spiritualization.
426. al-dārayn : The two abodes: this world and the Hereafter.
427. jāhika : Your station or rank; refers to the Prophet Muhammad's high spiritual status and intercessory power.
428. al-ḥabīb : The Beloved; a title for the Prophet Muhammad.
429. hājarū ma‘ahu : Those who migrated with him; refers to the Companions who emigrated from Mecca to Medina with the Prophet.
430. al-tābi‘īn : The Followers; the generation after the Companions who learned from them.
431. tiryāqika al-nāfi‘ : Your effective antidote; a metaphor for divine healing or spiritual remedy.
432. al-thaqalān : The two heavy ones; refers to humans and jinn, or sometimes to the Qur'an and the Prophet's family.
433. al-fanā’ : Annihilation; a Sufi term for the dissolution of the ego and union with the Divine.
434. al-baqā’ : Subsistence; a Sufi term for abiding in God after annihilation.
435. al-ṭufaylī : The intruder; one who comes uninvited, here used humbly by the supplicant.
436. al-Ẓāhir : One of the Names of Allah, meaning 'The Manifest' or 'The Outward', indicating His evident existence and sovereignty.
437. al-Bāṭin : One of the Names of Allah, meaning 'The Hidden' or 'The Inward', indicating His incomprehensible essence and subtle presence.