The Dome of Provisions (Vol 4)
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
16 September 2009 Fenton, Michigan
A`udhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajim. Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Rahim.
Nawaytu ‘l-arba`in, nawaytu ‘l-`itikaf, nawaytu ‘l-khalwah, nawaytu ‘l-`uzla,
nawaytu ‘r-riyada, nawaytu ‘s-suluk, lillahi ta`ala fi hadha ‘l-masjid.
Ati` Allah wa at`i ar-Rasula wa uli ‘l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Obedience is to Allah and his Prophet (s) and to whom Allah gave authority; its secret is that it will prepare us to receive knowledge that we never heard before. So if we were not students or lovers of awliyaullah, we would never be able to receive these knowledges that cannot be written in a book. We cannot find them in a book and we cannot find them anywhere; such knowledge is only from the hearts of awliyaullah that comes fresh from the heart of Sayyidina Muhammad (s).
What we are explaining is something beyond the capacity of thinking, as it relates to hearts. It is something that you must not doubt, because it is coming from those awliyaullah who have on their tongue the Sultan of Dhikr, the highest level of dhikrullah, and not every wali can reach that level. Very few can reach that; three of them are Grandshaykh `Abd Allah, his uncle, great-Grandshaykh Sharafuddin, and now inheriting is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. We will come back to that later. As we previously discussed, Grandshaykh was ordered by Prophet (s) to do Mawlid an-Nabi (s) and he said, "I did it," and we are speaking of Qubbat al-Arzaaq, the Dome of Provisions. And we mentioned that Allah created special angels for that Dome of Provisions and that story that sheds some light on it.
And Grandshaykh said, "I did it and invited many people to attend that Mawlid an-Nabi (s)." The invitation of awliyaullah is not like our invitation; when we invite someone, for sure, Allah will send angels for blessing the food on the table when we invite for Ramadan or any occasion. But Grandshaykh said, "That invitation was different from what I have been ordered to do; that invitation was for human beings and for `alam al-jinnjinn). When I finished that, more came than what was ordered and it was something of a voluntary procedure. And I saw in a vision when I passed by Masjid al-Quba, Prophet (s) was waiting for me, and as I was entering the presence of Prophet (s), I saw doors disappeared. On the right, left and behind me, an infinite number, no one can count those people except with the power of Sultan adh-Dhikr."
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No one can count it with normal counting. It is impossible, because jinn come in millions and occupy a small space. And he said, "It is full of humans and jinn and all of us were coming to the presence of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). I presented to Prophet (s) a gift of what we have read of of his birth in Seerat an-Nabi (s) and the Mawlid, and after that, all of them had eaten from that food." When you invite for Mawlid an-Nabi, you invite for reading Mawlid, for praising the Prophet (s), and to serve your guests food. You can't invite and there is no food. Grandshaykh said, "I invited them to do that and to eat. When I invited them, all of them ate, but it did not occur to me how I was able to feed them." In the presence of Prophet (s) it came to Grandshaykh's heart, "How did I feed all these people whom on the right cannot be counted and on the left cannot be counted?"
Then verse of Holy Qur`an came:
قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا أَنزِلْ عَلَيْنَا مَآئِدَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاء تَكُونُ لَنَا عِيداً لِّأَوَّلِنَا وَآخِرِنَا وَآيَةً مِّنكَ وَارْزُقْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ
Qaala `Eesa abnu Maryama allahumma Rabbanaa anzil `alaynaa maa'idatan mina 's-samaa'i takoonu lanaa `eidaan li-awwalinaa wa aakhirinaa wa aayatan minka wa arzuqnaa wa anta khayru 'r-raaziqeena.
Jesus son of Mary, said: "O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven a table spread (with food) that there may be for us, for the first and the last of us, a festival and a sign from You, and provide us sustenance, for You are the Best of Sustainers." (Al-Ma'idah 5:114)
Grandshaykh continues, "From the secret of that ayah, I understood that it was a heavenly table presented to them. Allah changed a normal table to a heavenly table when Sayyidina `Isa (a) said, 'Oh my Lord! send to us a table from heavens that will be a feast for the first of those with us and to those who are coming later.' And I realized that this is not the production of human beings, but this is heavenly power that was able to feed all those on my left and all those on my right and all those behind me. And I presented that to Prophet (s) and I said, "Ya Sayyidee, ya Rasulullah! Your order is completed. I hope there is no nuqsaaniya (deficiency) in it."
Prophet (s) said, "Ya waladee, O my son! Not only have you perfected it, you have exceeded what was ordered. For that I am going to intercede for everyone that accepted to attend that recitation of my Mawlid, and anyone who ate even a bite will be under my intercession. Also, I am going to give them the power to intercede for others: everyone who attended will have the authority to intercede for whomever he likes."
What do you think if someone attended the Mawlid of Prophet (s) by order of the shaykh and he is going to have a power to intercede, even for anyone in his family? Grandshaykh narrates, "And Prophet (s) said, 'That is one of 60 rewards I am giving to them. This is the reward of what I ordered you to do and you did it in the best way.'"
If one of the 60 rewards is the power to intercede, what do you think of the other 59? "The best way" means what cannot be expressed on the tongue, because it is something related to akhirah. Awliyaullah can understand that, but they are giving a hint that each one who attended is given the power of intercession for whom they love, and that is kulli wahidin minhum, for everyone of them, and for Naqshbandi mureeds receiving that power from Prophet (s), from Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and from Sayyidina `Ali (r) and combining it in their grandson, Sayyidina Jafar as-Sadiq (as). Those people must be happy, masha'Allah, but they don't give proper respect to that name (Siddiq). Many of them do, but unfortunately, many of them are lost in this dunya. Back then they were called "Siddiqi Tariqah". That is why there are too many Pakistanis who carry the name "Siddiqui", because having his name, Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (q) will intercede for them in akhirah.
Grandshaykh continues in his notes, "And Prophet (s) said to me, 'Ya waladee, O my son, for that extra I am referring you to Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and he will reward you on my behalf.'" We know the story of Sayyidina Abayazid al-Bistami (q): when they threw stones at him and he recovered, he went on a boat, and when the boat was sinking, he threw himself in the water and said, "Ya Rabbee! I am not coming back until I reach the realities." Awliyaullah don't use normal speed or the speed of light, but go with the "speed of contemplation". And he went below the Earth to another earth and beyond that to another earth, where there is no light. And that is why when Mawlana Shaykh prays Fajr, he doesn't switch on the light, but lights only a small candle. They like to be in that atmosphere of no light, in the atmosphere of the grave. That makes your grave to be a shining light of akhirah. That is why they don't prefer the light of dunya, because they like the light of akhirah. With no light, you focus more.
As the story goes, Sayyidina Abayazid (q) reached a place where he gave an ear; there was something to hear. He wanted to approach it but was afraid, and he is not a normal wali; he is a wali of the Golden Chain. He was hearing a sound, not like our dhikr where they are shouting! Instead of shouting, it is better to shut down, switch off the engines and come down. Better than everyone's voice in dhikr being different, some synchronized and others out of unison. That is why I like to do dhikr softly and slowly. When we do it quick, I cut it short because of the odd voices there, the different tones, and some know they are not in tune and still they don't synchronize with the others. If we make dhikr now, you can count them! Why they don't say, "Since my voice is like that, I will cool it down." No, they go louder and I make it louder and they continue louder and louder, until it becomes like a soup! (Laughter)
Sayyidina Abayazid (q) was not hearing soup; he was hearing one straight-forward wavelength of tasbeeh, in which all voices are the same, in unison. Why? Because in Maqam Alfan, their voices synchronize and are annihilated in each other. They are not out of an ocean. When water is out of the ocean, it has the form of a drop, but when you put it back in the ocean, it disappears and annihilates. So there he found them in a state of annihilation, with no forms, in a state of total submission. And all of them were doing dhikr of Huuuuuuuuuuuuuu in perfect unison, and it didn't stop. Huuuuuuuuu.... Some can take a breath and continue in one perpetual sound (Mawlana demonstrates) Huuuuuuu uuuuuuu, not like our dhikr of Hu, Hu, Hu, Hu. The adab is to recite it in one unified sound, because that is the ocean of al-Huwiyya al-Mutlaq, the Absolute Unknown, al-`adam al-mutlaq. There, there is no existence, except for that One no one knows. Sayyidina Muhammad (s) knows, through the name "al-Ahad". But no one can know Allah's Essence.
So Sayyidina Abayazid al-Bistami heard one continuous, unending Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuw, and he wanted to approach, but he got scared and in his heart came a voice, saying, "Ya Bayazid, what are you doing here? It is not your territory." Every wali has his own territory, his own garden, and Sayyidina Shah Naqshband has authority to bring all of them in one garden with their awliya. Sayyidina Abayazid knew this was the voice of Shah Naqshband with all the Naqshbandiyya, including himself. He found his reality there: his soul was there in the reality of connection between dunya, under the training of Shah Naqshband, from the time of taking the covenant on the Day of Promises, when Allah saked, "Am I not your Lord?"
There is power and akhirah power. When you connect, electricity will come. And Sayyidina Abayazid al-Bistami (q) took from Shah Naqshband (q) the responsibility that for anyone attending dhikr one time, he is in that station or that territory. And he tried to count them, but he was not able, despite Allah having given him power to count all human beings in the whole world at that time; he could count them all by their names in five minutes! But he was not able to count those under Shah Naqshband, including himself and his reality. He saw all the atoms of those who are there before him and those who are to come after him, but he was not able to count them. This is also from the 59 rewards that Prophet (s) opened to Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul. Sayyidina Abayazid al-Bistami (q) is one of the awliya that can reach Sultan adh-Dhikr, as explained in the book, The Naqshbandi Sufi Way.
And Prophet (s) said, "Oh my son, you have completed what I asked of you, and the extra you did, I am referring you to Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r)." And at that time, Grandshaykh saw Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r). He said: "I saw him coming, entering from the door, and he is still the khalifah, with the same features and typical dressing he had in the time of Prophet (s), with the same features of his personality and body, as khalifah of mu'mineen. When the Prophet (s) assigned him to go and pray, it means from that moment he is Khalifat al-Muslimeen, who acts on behalf of Prophet (s).
Grandshaykh continues, "I saw him acting in his capacity as Khalifah al-Muslimeen and I saw everyone from behind me had disappeared. All those who I invited to come and make Mawlid an-Nabi, I saw them disappearing in Sayyidina Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (r)."
Why? Because he is the father of Naqshabandis.
إِلاَّ تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللّهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لاَ تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللّهَ مَعَنَا فَأَنزَلَ اللّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُ بِجُنُودٍ لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ السُّفْلَى وَكَلِمَةُ اللّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا وَاللّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
Illa tansuroohu faqad nasarahu Allahu idh akhrajahu alladheena kafaroo thaaniya ithnayni idh huma fee 'l-ghaari idh yaqoolu li-saahibihi laa tahzan inna Allaha ma`ana fa-anzala Allahu sakeenatahu `alayhi wa ayyadahu bi-junoodin lam tarawha waja`ala kalimata alladheena kafaroo as-sufla wa kalimatullahi hiya al-`ulya w'Allahu `azeezun hakeem.
If you do not help (your leader), (it is no matter) for Allah did indeed help him, when the unbelievers drove him out. He had no more than one companion; they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion, "Have no fear, for Allah is with us." Then Allah sent down His peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which you did not see, and humbled to the depths the word of the unbelievers. But the word of Allah is Exalted to the heights, for Allah is Exalted in might, Wise. (9:40)
So they were in the cave, and Prophet (s), said, "Don't be sad. Allah is supporting us." It means, "Ya Abu Bakr, I am passing that secret to you. Don't worry, we are weapons to protect all these Naqshbandis against Shaytan". Wa ayadahu bi-junoondin lam tarawha - and strengthened him with forces which ye saw not. These are angels are given to all Naqshbandis, and we made our name to - wa ja`ala kalimatullahi hiya al-`ulya - We have made Allah's word to be high." As Naqshbandi dhikr of Naqshbandi with reciting the holy name "Allah", we have made that name the highest. That is why it encompasses all Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes. That is why Naqshbandi dhikr begins with dhikr adh-dhaat (Allah, Allah) that no one knows it, the name of dhikr Allah. And we made the word of unbelievers down. Their words are with Shaytan and our word is with Allah (swt). And that is why Abu Bakr as-Siddiq is the father of Naqshbandis.
And Grandshaykh was seeing behind him and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) said, "O my son, I am giving you a precious reward, " one of the 58 remaining rewards. "I am going to give you that reward which no one took before and I am giving it to you as a reward from Prophet (s) to you, through me." That is why we say that Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) is the father of Naqshbandis. He continued, "And that reward is because of what you have increased of voluntarily offering, beyond what you were ordered to do."
So be careful. What you have done extra is highly recommended, because what you are obliged to do, you are compelled, it is not voluntary. For example, you must pray the five prayers.
Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) said, "So from the authority of Prophet (s) I am giving you that reward, which no one got before you, and I am passing it to you." And Grand Shaykh said, "I was amazed because when he was talking to me with authority, I was seeing it with the real authority of his own time." That means he has that authority from the time he received it from Prophet (s) up until people enter Heaven! And so all Naqshbandis are under that authority. Grandshaykh continues, "So what was that reward he was passing to me? I was beginning to feel overwhelmed by that and to feel it."
And we will continue with that tomorrow (in Volume 6).
Wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfiq, bi hurmati ‘l-habib, bi hurmati ‘l-Fatiha.
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