Secrets of Damascus and Blessings of Guests: 9th November 2010

Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s Short Snippets of Advice

Secrets of Damascus and Blessings of Guests

9^th November 2010

A’uzubillah himinash shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillah-hir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

(There are two Short Suhbahs today)

1) Secrets of Damascus, (why you should visit!)

This Suhbah explains the blessings of Damascus (in Syria), also known as Sham. There is a mountain there called Jabbal Qasiyun, on which Maulana’s house is located. GrandShaykh’s (qs) Maqam and Mosque are but a few metres from Maulana’s blessed house on the mountain. At the end of this short Suhbah, Maulana explained what type of advice touches the heart.

• What are the virtues of Jabbal Qasiyun? Maulana said that if he talked about that mountain’s virtues for 40 days, he would still be unable to finish describing it. It is a glorious mountain, and light (nur) falls on it constantly. On a dark night, one can see the mountain shining and glowing.

• GrandShaykh (qs) explained that Allah had sent 124000 Prophets. The tombs of 1000 of them are found around the world, but the holy bodies of the remaining 123000 prophets are inside that mountain; therefore mercy falls on it continuously! In the olden days, pious ones used to walk barefoot there as a sign of respect. Ibn Arabi’s (as) tomb is also there, it is such a blessed tomb!

• GrandShaykh (qs) said that the terrible earthquakes of the Day of Resurrection, which will crush all mountains and toss them around like cotton, will not touch Jabbal Qasiyun. The Day of Judgement will take place in Sham, and this mountain will not be moved from its place; instead, a manifestation will fall upon this mountain, and it will be moved to Paradise without being touched.

• Whoever owns a house on that mountain or if his grave is located there, will enter Paradise without being questioned. It is such a glorious mountain! Maulana has a house there, opposite GrandShaykh’s (qs) Maqam, it is a small place. When you enter, on the right, there is a fountain by the wall, light would appear from there, Hjh Amina (qs) would often see it because there is a prophet buried there

• Maulana said that all his children were born in Sham, and there is a – light on all their faces, and he prayed that Allah made their lives long, with barakah. (Ameen!) Maulana said that he missed Sham dearly, but there was a wisdom in why he was not there, and was instead located in Cyprus. He prayed that Allah not cut him off from Sham, and he asked Allah that he never be away from such Holy Places.

• This is the holy month of Zulhijjah, new manifestations have begun, and Muharram will bring more clues as to what awaits the Nation of the beloved. Maulana prayed for Allah to strengthen our beliefs, and to fill our hearts with the love of prophets and saints, for whoever has no love for prophets and saints, their hearts are empty, they have no light.

• Armageddon will start and end in Sham. So many people will gather there at that time that, says Ibn Arabi (q), “If you drop this cap, it will fall on people and it won’t fall on the ground.”� When the Prophet (saw) was asked, “How will they survive at that time, how will such a crowd be fed?”� The Prophet (saw) replied, “With the takbir of Mahdi (as), to eat one drop of food, is like to have eaten an entire lamb.” Therefore pray that our fate won’t be cut off from Sham!

• Concluding this short Suhbah, Maulana lamented the fact that Scholars with book knowledge (but devoid of knowledge of taste), cannot elevate their followers’ belief/faith, as their words are all ‘plastic’. (See this earlier Suhbah on ‘plastic’ words). Plastic apples, bananas, grapes and oranges appear to resemble the actual fruits externally, but when you take a bite, it is tasteless and it has no nutritional value. Those who claim to be Scholars nowadays, present ‘plastic’ words to people – words that have no nutritional value or benefit to the Soul. They can not give from inside (their hearts), as their own hearts have no real understanding of what they speak of. Only one who possesses, may give. He who cannot speak from the heart, speaks only from his tongue. Such words, reaches only the ears of listeners, but cannot penetrate the hearts of attenders. Only words from the heart, may piece another heart.

Commentary

• I was blessed to have been to Damascus earlier this year. It is a 45 minute flight from Cyprus. Visiting Maulana in Lefke, without visiting Damascus, is like going to Makkah, without going to Medina! You can fly by CyprusAir, you can book tickets online, and they are pretty cheap.

• I was fortunate enough to have visited and stayed in Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s house at Jabbal Qasiyun. We had an impeccable host, Shaykh Ibrahim, who is rumoured to be one of the forty Abdals of Damascus. He gave me an unforgettable Suhbah when I was there! There is also Shaykh Anwar there at GrandShaykh’s Maqam. The Spirituality at GrandShaykh’s Maqam will blow you away!

• We visited the Arba’een Mosque at the top of Jabbal Qasiyun (see photo), Grand Shaykh’s Maqam, Ibn Arabi’s Maqam, Maqam of Khalid Al Baghdadi, Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist)’s Maqam at Ummayad Mosque, Sayyidina Bilal’s (ra)…..the list is endless…there is Prophet Zulkifli, Sayyidna Usman (ra), Ubai ibn Ka’ab (ra), Sakinah binte Hussain (ra), Aba Yazid al-Bistami, Sayyidina Habil (ra) ….. thousands more …. so do go visit.

• I miss Damascus very dearly ever since I came back, I would describe it as a place that is very nice to be buried in. I do wish to be allowed that by Allah. A part of me never came back from Damascus. If you wish to go, make your booking at CyprusAir, call Shaykh Ibrahim at +963 944 736 074 or at 00963 944 736 074, and he will take care of food, lodging and transportation to the Maqams. If you are going, do send my salams to Shaykh Ibrahim and Shaykh Anwar. If you are visiting Shaykh Nazim in Cyprus, and if you need more help or info, do drop me an email.

This Suhbah can only be watched at www.Saltanat.org, choose from the menu on the right, “Sham Sharif 09. Nov 2010”. There is a CC button next to the Volume control at the bottom of the screen to choose choose subtitles in eight languages, choose from Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu, German, English, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Turkish. During Live Suhbahs, the buttons at the top provide Live Audio Translations into other languages.

Maqam al-Arba’in is a shrine on Jabal Qasiyun built on the site where the Biblican and Koranic murder of Abel son of Adam by his brother Cain is believed to have taken place. Within the cave is a haunting figure of a mouth in the rock, said to have been formed when the cave cried out at the awful deed. Next to this is a small shaft into the mouth of the mountain which is believed to be, according to local tradition, the place from which the spirit of Damascus’ 40 saints descends every night and ascends with the break of dawn. The mihrabs (prayer niches) on the upper floor of the shrine are believed to be where the 40 saints pray the night vigil prayers every night. Two other sacred mihrabs are located on the lower level of the shrine and are believed to be the spots at which Abraham and Al-Khidr prayed respectively during their flight through Damascus. Al-Khidr is a mythical Islamic figure whose identity remained undisclosed, but whose relationship to Moses and his unquestionable divine wisdom is mentioned in the Koran’s famous Surat Al-Kahf.

2) Guests bring blessings

• Forty days before a guest arrives in your home, Allah will send the Provisions (rizqi) of that guest to you – two Angels bring the sustenance to your home, and they leave it there for the guest who is arriving! So the guest may come and take his fill of food from your house, he is not eating from your portion of the sustenance, but he is eating his Divinely sent Provision from Allah. When the Angels bring the guests’ Provisions, they also bring barokah (blessings) for the host. Knowing this, we must welcome guests with open arms, and we should never feel that they are burdensome people who are coming to eat for free. Those who welcome a guest sincerely for Allah, will never be burdened by his guest. But one who is working for shaitan, will be crushed by the burdens of hosting his guest. Maulana prayed that we be Rabbanis, sincere ones in attending to our guests.

• We are Allah’s guests on earth, and each one of us will also become His guest in the hereafter, when we face death – some earlier than others. Let us await our eventual return, with thankfulness. It is important to be constantly thankful and grateful, for that is a means of attaining sweetness in life. One who is always beset with problems, will have to be patient, but such a person is actually tasting the bitterness of life. It is better to taste sweetness through thankfulness, than to taste bitterness through patience.

• Those who do good, and are thankful ones, will have sweet lives. Those who clean themselves, and die as clean ones, will also be raised as clean ones. Those who do evil, will have poisoned lives. If one lives a dirty life, he will die dirty, and no amount of washing and cleaning at the time of death, can cleanse/purify such a person. So leave this dunia, as a clean and thankful one!

Commentary

• Hosting guests has a special significance in Islam. A guest has the right to stay for three days with us. When the Makkah Muslims migrated (Hijrah) to the Medina, many had left all their property, camels, wealth and families back in Makkah, and came only with the clothes in their backs. The local Medina community, though poor, welcomed them with open arms, sharing their meagre provisions with their brothers-in-faith, and Allah spoke of the Muhajir wal Ansar (Guest and Host) who had attained Allah’s pleasure by sacrificing for and accommodating the needs of, their guests.

The vanguard (of Islam) – the first of those who forsook (their homes), the Muhajir, and of those who gave them aid, the Ansar, and (also) those who follow them in (all) good deeds – well pleased is Allah with them, as are they with Him: for them hath He prepared Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever: that is the Supreme Felicity. (Quran 9:100)

• Pilgrims to Haramain are called ‘Guests of Allah’ and are affforded much respect and love.

• Ultimately, we are His guests in this world and in the hereafter, so just as we make things smooth for our guests, we pray that Allah makes our journey – as His guest – blessed and filled with infinite joy.

This Suhbah can only be watched at www.Saltanat.org, choose from the menu on the right, “Misafir 09. Nov 2010”. There is a CC button next to the Volume control at the bottom of the screen to choose choose subtitles in eight languages, choose from Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu, German, English, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Turkish. During Live Suhbahs, the buttons at the top provide Live Audio Translations into other languages. Should the video no longer be there, please look for it under the video archives of the Saltanat TV site. Saltanat TV is the Official Site of Maulana Shaykh Nazim that is sanctioned and approved by him personally.

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