In the Name of Allah, the All Merciful, the Most Merciful
Ramadan, how sweet was our short meeting And how bitter it shall be the day we bid you farewell Oh but for those nights They passed by like a flash of lightning when it sparkles |
By Asmāʾ Ramaḍān
Translated by Mahdi Lock
When we have entered
the final days of this sublime month, we should thank Allah, Mighty and Majestic,
for this sublime blessing that He has bestowed upon us, the blessings of
fasting, standing at night, reciting the Qurʾān, doing
lots of dhikr, being removed from obscenity, our limbs fasting from
every obscenity, whether a statement or an action (such as backbiting, slander,
vilification, insults, empty
talk, oppression, cheating and all other vile actions), for fasting was our
effective weapon that gave us the ability to overcome them.
This is
what is being alluded to in Allah the Exalted’s statement in the context of fasting:
“You should complete the number of days and proclaim Allah’s greatness for
the guidance He has given you, so that hopefully you will be thankful.” [al-Baqarah
2:185]
And it is for
this immense blessing, the magnitude of which is known only to those whom Allah
has guided from amongst His slaves and placed them upon light from Him along with
guidance and clear signs: “Is he who knows that what has been sent down to
you from your Lord is the truth like him who is blind? It is only people of
intelligence who pay heed.” [ar-Raʿd 13:19]
This is
from Allah the Exalted’s bounty towards us and his enabling success (tawfīq): that He has made us Muslims and from the
Ummah of the Seal of the Prophets, peace and blessings be upon him, and He has
not made us Jews, Christians, Magians or atheists.
When faced
with bidding farewell to Ramaḍān, we should ask Allah the Exalted for more of His bounty, mercy and tawfīq, and to make us firm upon the truth until we
meet Him upon that truth and He is pleased with us. We should ask Him to accept
our fasting, our standing at night, our recitation of the Qurʾān and our dhikr, seeking our
Lord’s countenance. We must ask our nafs how it has changed after this
fasting; has it become a true Muslim? Has the love of Allah, His Messenger and
His Book become more beloved to you than your own self, your family, your
wealth and all of humanity? If that is the case then rejoice and hope for the
best. If you find that your nafs is still falling short and that it hasn’t
changed through fasting and hasn’t benefitted from worship, and that it is still
making you incline toward vain desires and passions, then ask Allah, Mighty and
Majestic, to cure you of this, and know that reciting the Qurʾān and the dhikr of Allah is
your path to being cured from whatever you’re suffering from. Allah the Exalted
has said, “We send down in the Qurʾān that which is a healing and a
mercy to the believers, but it only increases the wrongdoers in loss.” [al-Isrāʾ 17:82]
And be wary
of being amongst those who oppress any of Allah’s slaves, for indeed oppression
is layers of darkness on the Day of Resurrection. Be wary of being amongst those
who cling to disobedience, remaining persistently in sin, because such people
gain nothing from their fasting except hunger and thirst and they gain nothing
from their standing at night except fatigue and sleeplessness.
Be wary of letting
this month come to an end and you have not been forgiven, and know that in this
month, every night, Allah the Exalted has people who are emancipated from the
Fire, so ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to make you one of them. The Exalted has
said, “Those who say, ‘Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Hell. Its
punishment is inescapable pain.” [al-Furqān 25:65]
Then, ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to let you live longer so that you can reach another Ramaḍān, and Allah can provide you with its fasting and standing at night, for how many are those who have reached this Ramaḍān but will not reach the one that is coming, and who knows whom from amongst us will be one of them?
Allah,
Mighty and Majestic, loves those who repent and seek His forgiveness, so repent
to Allah in sincerity and seek His forgiveness, indeed He is Ever Forgiving,
All Merciful.
We ask Allah
to accept this from us in full and to make us amongst those who listen to speech
and then follow the best of it.
And praise
be to Allah, Lord of all creation.
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