Silsila (spiritual lineage) of Khadim-e-Mohabbat (RA)

Just added the spiritual lineage of Hz Khadim-e-Mohabbat (RA) on a separate page. This is located above next to the About page.

New Pics of Mizaar Hz Khadim-e-Mohabbat

Work was undertaken to decorate the mizaar sharif of Hz Khadim-e-Mohabbat (RA) recently. Below are a few pictures of the new look.

Outer view of tile work.

View of ceiling.

Close up of Masnavi verses on front wall.

Urs of Hz Mawlana Rumi (RA)

17th December is the Urs of Hz Mawlana Rumi (RA). People of various religious beliefs and cultural backgrounds gather in Konya every year to pay tribute to this poetic and spiritual genius. Mawlana has touched the hearts of millions and his words are a constant reminder to us of the one thing needful: the re-connection with the Beloved.

For more on the Urs celebrations please visit Dar-al-Masnavi. Meanwhile here’s Mawlana himself on the wine of non-existence:

Tonight, take my spirit totally from my body, so that I
may no longer have shape and name in the world!
At this moment I am drunk in Thee – give me another
cup! Then I may be obliterated from the two worlds in Thee,
and be done with it.
When I have been annihilated through Thee and be-
come what Thou knowest, then I will take the cup of non-
existence and drink it, cup after cup.
When the spirit becomes radiant through Thee,
when the candle lights up – if not consumed by Thee it is raw,
raw.
Give me now the wine of nonexistence instant by
instant; when I have entered nonexistence, I will not know
the house from its roof.
When your nonexistence increases, the spirit will
prostrate itself to you a hundred times – oh you to whose
nonexistence thousands of existences are slave!
Give me wine, measure by measure! Deliver me from
my own existence! Wine is Thy special grace, intellect Thy
general grace.
Send up waves from nonexistence to steal me away!
How long will I pace the Oceans shore in fear?
The snare of my king Shams al-Din is catching
prey in Tabriz, but I have no fear of the snare, for I am
within it.

– Ghazal 1716
Translation by William C. Chittick
“The Sufi Path of Love”
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

Chaap Tilak (trans)

Here are the words to the poem of Hz Amir Khusro sung in the qawwali below. I have taken this poem with the translation from the Amir Khusro website. This is the main poem of the qawwali but as usual Nusrat brings in others too.

Chaap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chaap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Prem bhatee ka madhva pilaikay
Matvali kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Gori gori bayyan, hari hari churiyan
Bayyan pakar dhar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Bal bal jaaon mein toray rang rajwa
Apni see kar leeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Khusrau Nijaam kay bal bal jayyiye
Mohay Suhaagan keeni ray mosay naina milaikay
Chaap tilak sab cheeni ray mosay naina milaikay

Translation
You’ve taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.
By making me drink the wine of love-potion,
You’ve intoxicated me by just a glance;
My fair, delicate wrists with green bangles in them,
Have been held tightly by you with just a glance.
I give my life to you, Oh my cloth-dyer,
You’ve dyed me in yourself, by just a glance.
I give my whole life to you Oh, Nijam,
You’ve made me your bride, by just a glance.

In Memorium of the Master

These verses of Hz Amir Khusro really sum up what happens when one encounters a genuine spiritual master. Nothing is ever the same again. This rendition by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali and Party is also a classic.

A Few Quotes

Just reminding myself and others of the wisdom of the Shaykh (RA).

-To be cut off from the Unseen is to lose oneself in ugliness .( ghayb se kat jana ayb mein gum ho jana hai).

- The knowledge of Love is better than the love of knowledge.

- The angel cannot be the examiner of love.

Pictures of the Mizar

The mizar of Hz Khadim-e-Mohabbat(RA) on night of Urs.

Close up of writing on entrance door.

Hz Khadim-e-Mohabbat (middle age)

Tu meri raat ko mehtab se mehroom na rakh
tere paimane mein hai mah e tamaam ay Saki!

The Water of Life

Love is the water of life; what ever it falls upon it will bring to life its essential reality as well as its specific potentialities.

Hz Kadim-e-Mohabbat, an-Nahl Pg 87.

The Temporality of Life

The temporality of all things in this world is in reality a sign of their departure towards their Beauteous Centre….and this is a reminder for us to make our departure towards our Centre even more swiftly. For the place where the heedless “set” is also the place of their “rising”. Samadiyah (from the Name as-Samad) means that nothing can be anything without Him, yet He is Everything without anything.

Hz Khadim-e-Mohabbat, An-Nahl, Pg 47.