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SHAYKH ‘ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-SA‘DI

SHAYKH ‘ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-SA‘DI

TRANSLATION: ABU AALIYAH SURKHEEL SHARIF

British Library Cataloguing in Publishing Data A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

TITLE: The Exquisite Pearl AUTHOR: ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa‘di FIRST EDITION: Safr 1423H/ April 2002CE

e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.jawaiyyah.com

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Translator’s Preface About the Book

Arabic Text of the Poem Translation of the Poem

The Station of Sincerity

The Station of Fear and Hope The Station of Love

The Station of Remembrance Seeking Nearness to Allah Self-Inspection

The Station of Patience

The Station of Contentment The Station of Gratitude

The Station of Reliance

The Station of Excellence The Station of Good Character The Station of Attentive Care The Station of Renunciation The Fellowship

Translator’ Bibliography General Index

ALL PRAISE BE TO ALLAH, Lord of the worlds. May Allah extol and shower abundant blessings and peace upon the best of His creation, the Prophet Muhammad; and upon his Family, his Companions and all who follow them until the Day of Resurrection.

The Material Landscape Allah, Exalted is He, said in the Majestic Qur’an:

Whoever aspires to the harvest of the Afterlife, We grant him increase in his harvest; and whoever aspires to the harvest of this world, We grant him of it here, but in the Afterlife he shall have no portion. [al-Shira 42:20]

In today’s maelstrom of materialism and spread of licentious western liberalism, most people's aspirations tend not to extend beyond those of gratifying their desires and appeasing the urges of their appetites. That inner yearning within the human condition to know our origins and our Creator, to understand the purpose of our existence, to bring into our lives a richer and deeper sense of meaning, has - for all intents and purposes - been stifled or turned into a social taboo. In short, those ‘fundamental’ questions and inner yearnings that ultimately define our humanity have, in most cases, been either suppressed and ignored by the individuals, or methodically purged from them!

The result: greed, selfishness, nihilism, and spiritual bankruptcy have become dominant hallmarks of many of today’s individuals; whereas, hedonism, mass-consumerism, environmental vandalism and rape of the earth's natural resources so as to ensure today’s material comforts, perks and profits, have become emblematic of humanity at a more global level. It would seem that though the ideology of materialism has aided people in their actual quality of living, it nevertheless continues to play havoc with their actual quality of life!

Caught up in this milieu is the Muslim world. Betaken with western culture, the sole pre-occupation for many Muslims has now become ‘the standard of living’ and their own material advancement. As such, the Muslim world has fallen prey to a similar dysfunctionality and dissonance that inevitably occurs when faith, spirituality and conformity to the Divine Will are neglected, and materialism is embraced. The Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forewarned: “By Allah! It is not poverty that J fear for you, but I fear the world will be opened to you as it was opened to those before you, and that you would compete with one another over it as they competed, and that it would destroy you as it destroyed them?!

Disengaging from this malady of materialism requires engaging the higher purpose for which we were created, the prelude to which is sound aspiration (iradah). What is meant by ‘sound aspiration’ is the desire to draw closer to Allah through inner struggle, or mujahadah; in other words it is the heart’s quest for its spiritual sustenance. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, explained: ‘The signs of sound aspiration is that the aspirant’s main concern lies in pleasing his Lord, preparing to meet Him, being grieved at the times he spent in other than his Lord’s pleasure, and regretting the missed opportunities

1, Recorded by al-Bukhari (no.1465) and Muslim (no.1052).

to be close and intimate with Him. The summary of this is that day-in and day-out he has no concern other than this?

One of the fruits of this aspiration, this ‘labour of love, is that of being granted inner peace. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Whoever makes the Afterlife his concern, Allah will gather together his affairs, place contentment in his heart and the world will come to him despite his reluctance; whoever makes the world his concern, Allah will split-up his affairs, put poverty before him and nothing of the world will come to him except what Allah has written for him?3

The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also said: “Allah said: 0 son of Adam! Free yourself for My worship, and I will fill your chest with sufficiency and remove your poverty. But if you do not, I will fill your hands with distraction and will not remove your poverty?”

Perhaps the profoundest fruit that arises as a result of this aspiration is being indemnified in Allah’s divine love - as the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Whenever Allah loves a person, He shelters him from worldliness”>

Here the question is often asked: how should material possessions and wealth be dealt with, should they be totally abandoned? The answer to this apparent ‘dilemma’ was aptly given by Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may

3. Recorded by al-Tirmidhi (no.2389) and it was declared to be authentic (sahih) by Shaykh al-Albani, Silsilah al-Sahihah (no.949).

4. Recorded by al-Tirmidhi (no.2466) and others, and it is sahih. Consult: Silsilah alSahihah (n0.1359).

Islam’s Sacred Law, or shari‘ah, not only provides guidance for man’s external well-being, but it embodies a narrative for his inner growth as well. It is this ‘inner’ narrative, or spiritual tradition, which guides him to subduing his bestial nature and elevating the angelic nature within his soul, as well as purifying the heart from the spiritual diseases that veil it from knowing Allah and being truly devoted to Him. Indeed, it is only when the soul transcends its bestiality, and the heart is purified from the veils that render blind its spiritual perception, can one be infused with the illuminations of ihsan - the very essence of faith and spirituality - which the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam explained as being: “That you worship Allah as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He sees you.””

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, may Allah have mercy upon him, said as part of his commentary to the above Prophetic words:

‘It indicates that the servant (‘abd) should worship Allah in this manner; namely, evoking the feeling of His nearness and of His being with him as though he sees Him. This in turn necessitates reverence, fear, awe and glorification {of Allah]; as occurs in the narration of Abi Hurayrah: “That you revere Allah as if you see Him.” It also necessitates sincerity in worship, as well as exerting all one’s efforts in improving, completing and perfecting it’8

6. Majmat Fatawa (10/663). 7. Recorded by al-Bukhari (n0.5) and Muslim (no).

8. Jami‘ al-‘Uliim wa'l-Hikam (1/126)

Ibn Rajab further said: ‘It has been said that it [the second part of the sentence] is the cause for the first part. This is because when the servant is ordered to have vigilance (muraqabah) of Allah whilst worshipping Him and to feel His closeness, to the point that it is as if he was seeing Him, then this may be difficult. So he seeks aid to attain this through his faith that Allah sees him, is fully aware of his secret and public [acts], his inner and outer [states], and that nothing of his affairs is ever hidden from Him. When he actualises this station (maqam), it becomes easier for him to move to the second station, which is where there is a continual realisation, upon spiritual perception (basirah), of Allah's closeness to His servant and of His being with him; to the extent that it is as if he actually sees Him.

Ithas further been said: Rather, it refers to the fact that whosoever finds it difficult to worship Allah as if seeing Him, then he should worship Allah upon the realization that Allah sees him andis fully aware of what he is doing. So let him feel shy of Allah due to the Divine gaze over him; as one of the gnostics (‘arifan) said: ‘Fear Allah, lest He becomes [to you] the most despised of those watching you. Another said: ‘Fear Allah in proportion to His power over you, and feel shy of Allah in proportion to His closeness to you. A female gnostic from the Predecessors (salaf) said: ‘Whoever acts for Allah, due to witnessing Allah (mushahadah), is a gnostic (‘drif); whoever acts for Allah, due to knowing that Allah sees him, is sincere (mukhlis)? So this indicates the two stations that were previously mentioned:

The First: the station of sincerity (ikhlas), which is where the servant acts whilst bringing to mind that Allah observes him, that Allah is fully conversant with whatever he is doing, and that Allah is close to him. So when the servant brings this to mind in his actions - this being the root of his actions - then he is sincere to Allah. This is because evoking this feeling during his actions prevents him from turning to other than Allah, or from desiring other than Him in his actions.

The Second: the station of mushahadah. This is where the servant acts whilst witnessing Allah with his heart; which is when the heart is so illuminated by faith, and the spiritual perception is so heightened, it is as if the unseen is beheld with one’s eyes.?

So when love of Allah stirs in the heart and the winds of yearning for the Afterlife (akhirah) diffuse throughout the soul, then striving (jihad) against whatever hinders wayfaring (sulitk) to Allah becomes essential, in order to nurture this ‘awakening? Allah, Exalted is He, said:

As for those who strive in Us, We shall guide them to Our paths. [al-‘Ankabat 29:69]