Hans Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) The Mawlid of the Prophet Muhammad

The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), famous for his stories and fairy tales, also captured his journeys abroad in a number of travelogues. The lengthy excerpt reproduced here recounts a visit to Istanbul (Constantinople) on the occasion of the birthday celebration, or Mawlid, for the Prophet Muhammad. He also recounts the public procession of the Sultan and his entourage from the Serail (meaning Topkapı Saray or Palace). The account gives yet another interesting outsider perspective on Ottoman life and society.

he following passage is found in an 1889 publication entitled Stories for the Household as are the two images (pp. 829 & 845 respectively) in this post:

MAHOMET’S BIRTHDAY. 

A SCENE IN CONSTANTINOPLE.

THE fourth of April is the birthday of the Prophet. Already on the eve of that day the celebration began; and to say the truth, the performance on the eve was the prettiest part of the festivity. I considered it unfortunate that the night happened to be moonlight, and that the Osmanli police regulations demanded that every one who went out after sundown should carry a light in a lantern; but I was obliged to submit, for the police regulation could not be altered, nor could the moonlight. A young Russian named Aderhas and I associated ourselves together, and, without a companion, but duly provided with a light in a great paper lantern, we sallied forth to behold the illumination in honour of the Prophet.

“We went through a narrow street of Pera, and before us lay a scene of fantastic beauty, such as we can only see in the North in a wondrous dream. From the row of houses near which we stood down towards the bay extended a churchyard, that is to say, a cypress grove, with thick dark trees ; and dark night rested upon it. Over rough hills, downwards among the tall trees, winds the path which the footsteps of men and the hoofs of horses have worn, sometimes among the tombs, sometimes among fallen grave-stones. Here and there a blue lantern was seen moving to and fro, which soon disappeared, to reappear shortly upon the black background of the picture.

In the churchyard a few lonely houses lie scattered, and the lights glimmered from the upper windows, or were carried to and fro upon the balconies.

Beyond the cypress-tops shone, blue as a Damascene blade, the Gulf with its many ships. Two of these, the largest, were richly ornamented with burning lamps, which glittered around the portholes, the masts, and the guns also, or were hung in the rigging, which shone like a spangled net. Just before us lay the town itself, the great far-spreading Constantinople, with its countless minarets all wreathed with garlands of lamps. The air was still red with the sheen of the setting sun, but so clear and transparent that the mountains of Asia, and Olympus, covered with perpetual snow, showed their sharp broken outlines like a silver-white cloud behind the glorious city. The moonlight did not deaden the splendour of the lamps, but only brought out the minarets in relief, till they looked like gigantic flower-stalks crowned with blossoms of flame. The smaller minarets had one starry wreath, the larger two, and the largest of all three, one over the other.

 Not a human being was to be seen in our neighbourhood, all was lonely and still. We wandered down among the cypresses; a nightingale was raising its flute-like voice, and turtle-doves cooed among the shadows of the trees. “We came past a little sentry-house, built of planks, and painted red; a little fire had been kindled in front of it, among the gravestones, and soldiers were reclining around it. They were dressed in European garb; but their complexion and features proclaimed them of Ishmael’s race, children of the desert. With long pipes in their mouths, they lay and listened to a story. This story was about Mahomet’s birth.

The nightingale translated it for us, or we should not have understood it. Here it is:

“La illah il Allah!” “There is no God but God!” In the city of Mecca the merchants assembled for the sake of traffic; thither came Egyptian, and Persian, and Indian, and Syrian dealers. Each one had his idol in the temple Kabba, and a son of Ishmael’s race filled the highest office, namely, that of satisfying the hunger of the pilgrims and quenching their thirst. In his piety he wished, like Abraham, to offer up his son as a sacrifice; but the prophetess declared that the handsome Abdallah should live, and a hundred camels were sacrificed in his stead. “La illah il Allah!”

And Abdallah grew to be a man, and was so handsome that a hundred maidens died for love of him. The prophetic flame shone on his forehead, the flame which passed hidden from race to race, until the Prophet was born, Mahomet, the first and the last. The prophetess Fatima saw this flame, and she offered a hundred camels if he would be her husband; but he married Amina, and the prophetic flame vanished from his forehead and burned in Amina’s heart. “La illah il Allah!”

And the next year came round; the flowers had never been so sweet as they were this year, never had the fruits on the trees swelled with, such abundance of juice; and the rocks trembled, and the lake Sava sank into the earth, the idols fell down in the temple, and the demons, who wanted to storm the heavens, fell from the sky like millions of shooting stars, hurled down by the mighty hand that wielded the lance; for in that night Mahomet the Prophet was born. “La illah il Allah!”

This was the story the nightingale translated for us, for the nightingale understands Turkish just as well as our own language.

We went forth beneath the tower of Pera, out to the convent of the dancing dervishes, and a beauteous panorama met our view. The whole Sea of Marmora lay before us, lighted up by the rays of the moon, and in the mid-distance Scutari [Üsküdar] stood forth, its minarets gleaming with many lamps like those of Constantinople. The Mosque of St. Sophia with its four, and the Mosque of Ahmed with its six minarets, stood forth in especial splendour, each pinnacle crowned with a double or a triple garland of glittering stars. They seemed to surround the garden of the Serail, which stretched down towards the Bosphorus, dark as a starless night. No light shone in the palace of the sultanas near the shore; but there where the Golden Horn ends, a sword of flame had been reared, that threw a ruddy glow over the waters. Innumerable little boats, gaily decked out with red, green, or blue paper lanterns, darted like fireflies between the shores of the two continents. All the great line-of-battle ships blazed with lamps; every ship, nay, every rope and spar, could be clearly seen, the outlines drawn in fiery colours. Scutari and Stamboul seemed united by the gleaming water with its rows of shining sparks. It was a fairy city, a city of the fancy, with a magic haze poured forth over it; and only two points were covered by mysterious darkness: in Asia the great churchyard behind Scutari; in Europe, the garden of the Serail. Night and dreams lay brooding over both spots the dead heroes are dreaming of the maidens of Paradise, and in the night of the Serail the dreams are those of earthly beauties, charming and fair as the houris of Paradise.

The streets of Pera were filled with a throng of Greeks, Jews, and Franks, each carrying his lantern or his candle. It was an Oriental procession ofMoccoli; but the costumes were far more correct, more rich and varied, than those in the Corso of Rome on the last evening of the Carnival. In front of the palaces of the foreign ministers lamps were burning, erected in the form of pyramids, or in a great M, the initial letter of the Prophet’s name. At nine o’clock cannon were fired from all the ships; there was a thundering din, like that of a sea-fight; all the windows shook; shot after shot boomed forth, announcing the hour at which the Prophet was born.

I fell asleep amid the thunder of the cannon, and was awaked early by the same sound. Merry music of Rossini and Donizetti sounded through the streets: the troops were marching on, to be paraded between the Serail and the Mosque of Ahmed, whither the Sultan was about to proceed in state.

The Danish Consul, Romain, an Italian, came to fetch me. A young Turk, with pistols in his girdle and two long tobacco-pipes an his hand, walked before us; an old Armenian, in a dark blue fluttering caftan, and a black jar-shaped hat on his shaven head, came after us, carrying our cloaks; and thus we strolled through the main street of Pera, down towards Galata. The servants stepped into a boat, we two embarked in another, and now we rowed across the Gulf, darting swiftly among hundreds of others, whose rowers shouted and howled at each other, as one or other of the boats ran the risk of being swamped. At the landing-place in Constantinople the mass of gondolas formed a huge swaying bridge, across which we had to skip, to reach the firm land, which is bordered by decayed planks and beams. The crowd was great, but soon we came to a broad side street. Here were many people, but there was room enough. Great crowds of veiled women wended along the same way with us, and soon we had arrived under the walls of the Serail, which are very high towards the town, and look like the walls of an old fortress. Here and there is a tower, with a little door, which looks as if it had never been opened; the hinges were covered with grass and climbing plants. Great old trees stretched their leafy branches across the old walls; one could fancy one’s self on the borders of the forest in which sleeps the enchanted Princess.

We chose our position in front of the Mosque of St. Sophia, between the great fountain and the entrance to the Serail. From this point the Mosque of St. Sophia, with its numerous cupolas and subsidiary buildings, has a whimsical resemblance to a great flower-bulb to which several smaller bulbs have attached themselves. The terraces in the foreground were thronged with Turkish women and children, and the shining white veils worn by the former gave the scene quite a festive air. The fountain behind us is the largest and most beautiful in Constantinople. With the name “fountain” we usually associate the idea of a basin with a jet of water plashing up from it; but in Turkey fountains have a very different appearance; and a more correct idea of their appearance will be obtained by imagining a square house, whose walls are quite Pompeian in their variegated richness of colour: the white groundwork is painted with inscriptions from the Koran in red, blue, and gilt letters; and from little niches, to which brazen basins are fastened, the consecrated water ripples forth, with which the Mussulman bathes his hands and face at certain hours of the day. The roof is painted and gilt with quite a Chinese richness of colour. The dove, the sacred bird of the Turks, builds its nest here: in hundreds they flew over our heads, to and fro between the fountain and the Mosque of St. Sophia.

All around were a number of Turkish coffee-houses, all built of wood, with balconies, almost like the Swiss houses in appearance, but more gaudy and less solid: before each there stretched a little plantation of trees; and all these plantations were occupied by smoking and coffee-drinking Turks, who quite lit up the gardens and the fronts of the houses with their bright-coloured caftans: some of them wore turbans, others fez caps. Between the fountain and the great gate leading into the forecourt of the Serail, two long scaffolds had been erected of boards placed on tubs and tables. The second of these was higher than the first, and on the lower one veiled Turkish women of the lowest class were reclining. Old Turks, Persians, and a few Frankish strangers, whose unveiled women were objects of universal attention, held their station on the upper platform. Now appeared several regiments of Turkish soldiers, all dressed in European fashion, in tight trousers and close jackets, white cross-belts across their chests, and red fez caps on their heads. The guards made a very good appearance in their new uniforms, with tight stock and collars; and, as I was told, they wore gloves to-day for the first time. Some of the other regiments seemed in most lamentable plight: not only were the men of all possible complexions, white, brown, and coal-black soldiers all mingled together, but some of them were lame, and others had club feet. Their European uniforms were too tight for them, consequently the majority had ripped up the seam of the sleeves at the elbow, and many had cut their trousers at the knee, that they might move their legs with greater freedom; consequently naked elbows were seen protruding all along the line, and during the march many a red, brown, or black knee protruded from the blue trouser. Especially remarkable was one regiment, which I might almost call the “barefoot warriors,” for some of them had only one boot and one shoe, while others shuffled along with bare feet thrust into slippers of different colours. Amid a din of military music, they all marched into the courtyard of the Serail, and, after defiling before the Sultan, came back and drew up in line along both sides of the way: Ethiopians and Bulgarians stood side by side, and the Bedouin became the neighbour of the shepherd’s son from the Balkan.

At ten o’clock the procession was to begin; but it was nearly twelve before the Sultan thought fit to leave the Serail. The sun shone warm as in summer; cup after cup of coffee was quaffed, and once or twice the lower platform gave way, and all the Turkish women tumbled down in a heap. It was a long time to wait. Until within a few years, it was the custom to bring out to this spot the heads of those who had been decapitated in the courtyard of the Serail, and to throw them to the dogs; but everything looked peaceable enough now. Young Turks who could speak a little French or Italian began a conversation with us and with other Franks, and showed the greatest willingness to explain to us whatever they thought might excite our interest. Below us, in front of the walls of the Serail, lay spread the Sea of Marmora, enlivened with many a sail, and glittering in the sunshine; and high up, in the background, the snow-covered mountain-peaks of Asia glowed in the clear blue-green sky. I had never before seen this grassy glimmer in the air. A young Turk, who told me he had been born on the banks of the Euphrates, assured me that yonder the sky sometimes showed rather green than blue.

But now a cannon-shot resounded from the garden of the Serail: the procession was starting. First came a mounted military band, even the drummer and the man who played the cymbals were on horseback: the latter musician let the reins hang loose on the horse’s neck, while he clashed the brazen plates in the sunlight. Now came the Sultan’s guards, as soldierly a body of men as you would see in any Christian kingdom; then a number of splendid horses were led along, without riders, but all decked in gorgeous trappings, red, blue, and green, and all powdered with jewels. The horses danced along on their strong slender legs, tossing their heads and shaking their manes, while their red nostrils quivered like the leaf of the mimosa, and more than instinct seemed to flash from their bright eyes. Now came a mounted troop of young officers, all clad in the European costume, but wearing the fez cap; they were followed by civil and military officials, all clad in the same way; and now the Grand Vizier of the empire appeared, an old man, with a long beard of snowy whiteness. Bands of music had been posted at different points, and relieved each other at intervals. In general, pieces from Rossini’s “William Tell” were played, but suddenly they were broken off, and the strains of the young Sultan’s favourite march were heard. This march had been composed by the brother of Donizetti, who has been appointed band-master here. Now came the Sultan, preceded by a troop of Arabian horses still more gorgeously caparisoned than those who had gone before. Rubies and emeralds formed rosettes for the horses’ ears; the morocco leather bridles were covered with precious stones, and saddles and saddle-cloths were wrought with pearls and jewels.

 It seemed as though we were looking on the work of a spirit of Aladdin’s lamp. Surrounded by a number of young men on foot, all displaying a feminine Oriental beauty, as if a number of Turkish women had ventured abroad without their veils, came riding on his splendid

Arab horse the young “nineteen-year-old” Sultan Abdul Medjid. He wore a green coat buttoned across the chest, and wore no ornament, except one great jewel with which the bird of Paradise feather was fastened in his red fez cap. He looked very pale and thin, had melancholy features, and fixed his dark eyes firmly on the spectators, especially on the Franks. We took off our hats and bowed; the soldiers shouted out, “Long live the Emperor!” but he made not a gesture in acknowledgment of our salutes.

 “Why does he not notice our salutes?” I inquired of a young Turk at my side. “He must have seen that we took off our hats.”

 “He looked at you,” replied the Turk; “he looked at you very closely.”

With this we had to be content, for it was considered as good as the best acknowledgment. I told the Turk that all Frankish princes acknowledged the salutes of their subjects with uncovered heads, a statement which seemed quite incredible to him. 

Pachas and other grandees of the empire now came by; then Frankish officers in the Turkish employ; and then a number of servants, male and female Turks, closed the procession. Such a crowd, such a pushing to and fro! Half-naked street boys with dingy turbans, old beggar women with ragged veils, but with coloured trousers and morocco slippers, pushed noisily through the throng.

“Allah akbar!” “God is great!” they shouted, when the soldiers tried to drive them back with the butt-ends of their muskets. The whole street was like a many-coloured stream of fez caps, turbans, and veils, and on both sides, like reeds along the river’s banks, rose the glittering bayonets. Whenever parties of Franks wished to pass through the ranks of the military, Turkish officers came forward and made room for them with the greatest politeness, pushing aside their fellow-countrymen, who contented themselves with gazing upon the favoured Franks, and shouting once more, “Allah akbar!” (pp. 830-836)

Hans Christian Andersen. 1889. Stories for the Household. London: George Routledge and Sons.

Why I hate School but love Education

Until I See You

Written and Narrated by Ammar Alshukry. 
Produced, Kinetic Typography Designed and Edited by Belal Khan.
Sound Scored by Cyrus Hira.
- 
A poem about the Prophet Muhammad
"Until I See You"
By Ammar AlShukry

You're the best person I've ever known, the best friend I've never met
Your sincerity to me is blinding enough to completely canvas the world around me
with drapes that read, respect, honor, focus, protect..
and leaving a window so that I can zoom in on the important things,
and yet those are the things that I forget, or neglect,
...I will do better.

Your Ummah is fine, not because of me or mine, or wounds that heal with time,
those who'd die for a dollar sign, but because of promises divine,
and so when we feel that we're at our worst,
and our sadness would cause our hearts to burst,
it feels like there are times,
when there are angels within our lines.
Or maybe hovering over squares,
with chants of freedom in the air,
And though tyrants step on our necks
We smile...for history has always been on our side..
Yours is an Ummah that simply doesn't die..

I'm sorry for my weakness.
For every time I've been ashamed of your name, and asked someone to call me Mo,
For not knowing enough about you to defend you when they drew cartoons, or accused you with
the most heinous of accusations..
For not getting over my distaste of reading and waiting for hollywood to put you on the big
screen so I can know about you.
As if Steven Spielberg, Mel Gibson, and Johnny Depp could somehow recreate the twinkle in
your eye,or a beautiful bead of sweat as it scaffolds on your forehead, frantically fighting
gravity not wanting to fall off your body.

I keep thinking of seeing you, and wonder if you would smile at me...
the thought gives me goosebumps..

You told me to meet you at the pool, so on that day, I hope and pray
that I can see you through the crowd,
that no angels barricade me as I sprint at break neck speed,
I hope you recognize it's me.
I will crowd the companions to get access to your vision.
I will obey my thirst and quench it from your hand, so until that day I will pray...
I will stand and I will pray,
as if my feet are holding the earth from splitting.

If I make it, I cry at the thought of seeing you.
For I know the words that I used to read out of all too thin pages,
will do no justice, to your face, your scent, your touch, your voice.
My Messenger of Allah has always existed between the curves and dots of the
Arabic alphabet, So Muhammad ibn Abdillah in 3D and whatever other dimensions the hereafter
brings with it, will be an overboard of senses.
I will fall in love with your shadow,
and will tell Ali that his description did not do justice,
and tell my mother Aisha, that we heard her story of how you passed away between her chin and
her chest,
over and over and over again,
and it made us cry every single time.
For there was no disaster that we suffered more
than what we suffered before our souls merged with flesh,
of entering an Earth that was without you,
Does the sky even recognize us anymore..
And I will sit in the shade of your smile,
and ask you your story directly from your mouth,
as we sip from Salsabil, ice cold,
and would be deeply embarrassed if you asked me for mine,
Cuz I never did anything right, other than loving you
and then..if you let me, I would love..
for a hug.

Father & Son, Rashid & Salim

The Story of Umm Iyad

The neighbourhood was different back in those days. There was no zawiya, and I lived on the ground floor of a three story apartment block nestled between our guest-house and the land that would eventually give birth to the zawiya. As I turned right from the black-and-white outer door of my home that faced the street, it was only a few short steps up the hill until the guest-house was reached. It was entered through a courtyard, the edges of which were being slowly colonised by young vines, with fruit still too young and bitter to draw benefit from. Inside the guest-house was where the brothers slept and lived when visiting from overseas. Little teaching took place there though sometimes we would recite Hizb al-Bahr and Hizb al-Nasr after the mid-afternoon prayer. It was only later that the guest-house would become a place of teaching and dhikr before being drawn back to its former service as a rest-stop for the traveller after the new zawiya was built. The hadra was held four times a week—twice in Amman, once in Sarih, and once in Irbid after the Friday prayer. An old bus would swing onto the hill and we would board with whosoever was staying nearby, to be taken to wherever the hadra was. That was in the evening. In the morning we silently recited a portion of our daily litanies outdoors. After the morning prayer a few of us, some- times numbering only one or two, would walk up to the top of the hill on the edge of Kharebsheh that overlooked the uninhabited barren valley below. There as sunrise approached we would sit silently and recite our own personal litanies. After 45 minutes or so the sun would rise over us and we would leave. This was all in 1996 and 1997.

At around the same time a young Arab of Palestinian descent became my student. His name was sidi Iyad. He helped with procuring often rare manuscripts and books, for this was his speciality, but he also had some training in calligraphy. This was useful as a new awrad book was in preparation. The awrad book was to contain four litanies authored by Sayyidina Abul Hasan al-Shadhili, and others penned by such masters as Sayyidina Abul Abbas al-Mursi and Sayyidina Abul Muwahib al-Shadhili al-Tunisi. We had selected only the most rigorously authentic litanies, which were then to be compiled into a small book of awrad, written by one of the leading calligraphers in the world. The calligrapher was world-class: he had won the world championship for the naskh script at an international competition in Istanbul. Now he was living temporarily in the neighbourhood, writing out the litanies of the Shadhili Tariqa. I put sidi Iyad’s knowledge to good use. Behind the scenes he would advise me, pointing out any imperfections in the penmanship; and I would go to the calligrapher and say, ‘this could be better’, or ‘that could be better’. After a time the calligrapher realised who was advising me, and sidi Iyad became the enemy. His help was in- valuable.

The book of awrad was now finished and I learnt from sidi Iyad that his mother had decided she would read Hizb al-Kabir, and she continued in its recitation until the early part of 2004. I was somewhat surprised at this. Hizb al-Kabir is quite long and many people of the tariqa do not have the strength, or find it difficult, to recite day-on-day, and sidi Iyad’s mother was not in the tariq. She was just an ordinary Arab woman, though she had sacrificed and worked hard for her children. Sidi Iyad’s father was absent so Umm Iyad had raised her children alone. By day teaching at school; by night sewing piece-work, all to make ends meet. She was always working, working, working. And she did so to give her children an education, and sent them on to university. Umm Iyad sacrificed a great deal for her children.

In the first part of 2004 Umm Iyad had trouble with gall-stones. A hospital admission followed, where she had an operation to remove them. It so turned out that the gall-stones were accompanied by advanced liver cancer. This was unexpected and came as a shock. Umm Iyad was given just four months to remain in this world. The cancer was too advanced to treat. Sidi Iyad came to me to break the news, and we talked, Iyad and I.

‘It’s better not to tell her’, he said.

To which I replied, ‘In my opinion I would like to be told about something like this so I could make ready, prepare’.

‘No, it would wreck the family and everyone would start acting unusual and break her heart’.

Finally I listened to his reasoning, ‘OK, you call the shots, you know the family better than I do’.

They didn’t tell her. Not about the liver cancer, nor about her shortened life. Even as Umm Iyad grew weaker, which she surely did, she didn’t show any outward suspicion of the seriousness of her illness. She only said over-and-over, ‘When I get better I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that’.

Sidi Iyad’s mother now took the tariq from me and continued on with her daily reading of Hizb al-Kabir. In spite of her illness, her failing strength, and straightened circumstance, Allah Most High made it possible for Umm Iyad to go to the Hajj. This she did even though less than the age that the Jordanian government issues Hajj permits for. The numbers have to be restricted to prevent overcrowding and crushing; it’s not easy for Muslims from the East to go on Hajj. And so Umm Iyad went with her son and daughter-in-law to attend to her. The Hajj was completed and Umm Iyad returned, by now she was very tired, very weak.

Upon his return sidi Iyad paid me a visit bringing with him some unexpected news. His mother had requested that she be entered into the khalwa.

I said to him, ‘how can someone go in the khalwa when they don’t know anything about mudhakara, they haven’t heard anything, they haven’t prepared?’

Sidi Iyad insisted that his mother’s mind was set, she wanted the khalwa, and sidi Iyad persisted in his asking on her behalf. Finally I decided to pray an istikara about the matter.

Over the years I’ve seen many elderly mothers do extremely well in the solitary dhikr of the khalwa. Such women have spent of themselves, often over decades, serving their children and husbands behind closed doors, with no public thanks or applause. This is very high ikhlas. Such unsung, low-profile service is always a recipe for sincerity. So I prayed an istikara about whether or not to enter Umm Iyad into the khalwa and to my utter surprise it was positive. She’s been in the tariqa for four weeks and she’s going into the khalwa.

Because of her weakness caused by her illness Umm Iyad was put into the khalwa at sidi Iyad’s house. When we arrived Umm Iyad was sitting on the bed saying, ‘when I get well I’ll be up and about’. Still no-one had told her she was passing out of this world. It was there she made dhikr for three days and reached what many people of the tariqa are unable to reach after forty years. Allah Most High illumed her with a complete fath, a complete marifah. Afterwards she said, ‘where on earth was I, where on earth am I now’. She was just shocked at what Allah had opened up to her. I was pretty surprised myself. After that she found it very difficult to listen to the relatives when they visited and spoke of the usual things relatives across the world talk about. She couldn’t listen to any of them for more than fifteen minutes. She couldn’t stand it. And she made dhikr all the time: Allah, Allah, Allah. Umm Sahl would visit and read aloud the letters of Moulay al-Arabi al-Darqawi, and this soon became Umm Iyad’s whole joy, to hear the words of Moulay al-Arabi. She only wanted to hear of Allah and the next life. This world no longer held her interest and she couldn’t bear to hear of it. Now her whole happiness was Allah, her dhikr, and Umm Sahl reading during those visits.

And still Umm Iyad said, ‘when I get well I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that’.

But she didn’t get better, instead things became very tough for her. She was unable to move around the house; she could not get out of bed without help.

The King Hussein Cancer Center in Amman is one of the best hospitals in the Middle East. It is also the most expensive. It is the pinnacle of the Jordanian government’s desire to make the country a centre of excellence for medical treatment in the Middle East. Wealthy Arabs from across the region visit for treatment. Sidi Iyad went there and talked to the head administrator who told him, ‘that’s alright, we can admit your mother for nothing’. Umm Iyad was admitted free of charge. Doubtless she saw where she was being taken as the large sign outside the hospital is pretty plain, yet she pretended not to know for her children’s sake. It’s likely she knew all along, only feigning ignorance to make her children happy. She was there for about ten days, then Thursday night came.

The hadra and the lesson had finished, people were dispersing, preparing to return home. Sidi Iyad sought me out. He knelt down in front of me and told me his mother had taken a turn for the worse. I summoned Umm Sahl and with sidi Iyad we hurried to the hospital directly.

Shortly after our arriving at the ward Umm Iyad closed her eyes and Umm Sahl and I had the same sort of vision at the same time. We could see Umm Iyad’s ruh straining to leave her body to reach its heavenly station. We stayed a while, read al-Fatiah, then re- turned home. It was only later that we would learn that just before dawn Umm Iyad would wake up out of oblivion, as she was comatose when we left her, completely out of it, her body distended, and she would cry out at the top of her voice: ‘Allahu Akbar, Allahu Ak- bar’, then she laughed uproariously.

The nurses hurried to her, demanding, ‘who’s laughing on the cancer ward’.

A few more hours passed by and Umm Iyad died. She passed from this world laughing, saying ‘Allahu Akbar’. Umm Sahl and Umm al-Khair washed her body. No trace of her illness remained upon her. She was no longer swollen. She looked very wonderful, very beautiful. She looked completely overjoyed, with an expression of sheer happiness on her face. It was now Friday morning and around 3000 people came to the masjid for her funeral. Thousands came, and I don’t know why all of those people prayed for her, or where they came from. Then we took her to the graveyard and prayed some more.

When Umm Sahl used to visit Umm Iyad to read the Darqawi letters Umm Iyad confided in her:

‘You know, I’ve had a good life but two things I’ve been unsatisfied with. One is that not all my children are praying. I’ve tried to raise them the best I could, but not all of them are praying. The second is that I don’t feel my nafs is like I wanted it to be’.

After she came out of the khalwa all her children were praying, and they’re still pray- ing; and her soul was illumined.

She said, ‘Now I feel both of these have been taken care of by Allah’.

I considered all of these things that had happened to Umm Iyad over such a brief pas- sage of time: her reciting the Hizb al-Kabir, taking the tariq, going on Hajj, entering the khalwa, marifah before she died. So many miracles and blessings: ‘whosoever goes on Hajj is forgiven his sins. He is as the day his mother gave birth to him’. Her wiliya—she died as an Arif-billah and I have no doubt that she is one of the awliya. So after they buried her and turned the last piece of dirt over on her, I turned away from her grave, and finally I under- stood: Sayyidina Abul Hasan al-Shadhili said, ‘whosoever reads our hizbs shall have what we have’. And this is one of the things I saw from Hizb al-Kabir.

http://www.shadhiliteachings.com/umm-iyad/

A Book by Edgar Guest

A Book by Edgar Guest “Now” - said a good book unto me - “Open my pages and you shall see Jewels of wisdom and treasures fine, Gold and silver in every line, And you may claim them if you but will Open my pages and take your fill. “Open my pages and run them o’er, Take what you choose of my golden store. Be you greedy, I shall not care - All that you seize I shall gladly spare; There is never a lock on my treasure doors, Come - here are my jewels, make them yours! “I am just a book on your mantel shelf, But I can be part of your living self; If only you’ll travel my pages through, Then I will travel the world with you. As two wines blended make better wine, Blend your mind with these truths of mine. “I’ll make you fitter to talk with men, I’ll touch with silver the lines you pen, I’ll lead you nearer the truth you seek, I’ll strengthen you when your faith grows weak - This place on your shelf is a prison cell, Let me come into your mind to dwell!”

The Beauty of Having Good Adab

My mom always reminds me how she had the worst pregnancy with me. Out of five pregnancies, I tortured her during my luxurious stay in Hotel Womb. What did she expect? I’m not your average Jane, so of course carrying a legend would be too much to handle lol. There is one story though that really gets me all emotional. My mom was nine months pregnant with me and was walking with my brothers from the clinic to the bus stop which was a long walk. Back then in January it used to snow a lot and there would be inches of snow to walk through. When she finally arrived at the bus stop, my oldest brother who was less than three years old was completely wet from waist down from all the snow. My other brother was less than two years old and he was in the stroller which my mom was having a hard time pushing. As she was waiting at the bus stop as cold as an ice popsicle, a Palestinian man who owned a store in front of the bus stop invited her inside the store to stay warm. He took my brother’s pants and socks off and put them on the heater to dry. He told my mom to stay inside the store until the bus arrived. What did he do next? He went outside and waited at the bus stop and when he saw the bus approaching he went back inside and helped my mom get on the bus with my brothers. For the past twenty nine years, my mom has constantly made du3a for that man. Imagine someone making du3a for you for almost three decades and you have no idea. It is the simple acts of kindness that matter most and are never forgotten. If that man is still alive, I pray he lives a long and healthy life. If he has already passed away then may he rest in peace and be from the inhabitants of Paradise.

From 

http://thebeautyofislam.tumblr.com/post/41379116649