QUOTATIONS FROM THE SERMONS OF HAZRAT SHEIKH ABDUL QADIR GAYLANI



1) JEALOUSY:

"Why is it that I see you O! believers, jealous of your neighbour for his food, drink, dress and wife, and for the house he resides in, and for the enjoyment he derives from his affluence, and for finding him in possession of the blessings of his Master and of the portion alloted to him? Does your Iman (faith) permit you to fall in the eyes of your Master and make you loathsome to Him? Have you not heard the saying of the last Holy Prophet (pbuh) that Allah has declared:

"Hasid (jealous person) is an enemy of Our blessings."

And have you not heard the saying of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) :-

"Verily, jealousy eats up virtues as fire consumes fuel."

What for are you then jealous of him, O! poor man? Is it for his alloted portion or for yours. If you are jealous of the portion alloted to him by Allah, you come under the purview of His words:

"We have appointed among them their livelihood in the life of this world, and raised some of them above others in rank so that some of them may take labour from others."

Allah furthur sayeth:

"The word changes not before Me, and I do not the least injustice to My servants."

2) PROMISE AND WEAKNESS IN IMAN (FAITH):

"When you give promise to any person while you are weak in your Iman (faith) and in your Iqan (certitude), you have to fulfill the same; so that your 'Iman' and 'Iqan' may not be diminished. When faith and certitude are strengthened and established in your heart, you are addressed by His words:

"Verily today you are in Our presence an honourable and faithful one."

When this address is repeated for you many times, then you become one of the chosen ones."

3) CULMINATING POINT OF MANKIND:

"There are four kinds of men:

One is he who who has no tongue and no heart. He is a man of ordinary position, dull and lowly. He does not count on God and he has nothing good in him. He and people like him are like chaff which has no weight.

The other kind of person has a tongue but no heart; he speaks on wisdom but does not act according to it. He calls people to God but himself flees from Him. He abhors defects in others but he himself persists in similar defects. He shows to others piety but contends with God by committing major sins; and when he is alone he is like a wolf in (sheep's) clothes.

There is a third kind of man who has a heart but no tongue, and he is a believer. God has screened him away from His creation and hung round him His curtains and given him an insight into the blemishes of his ownself. He has enlightened his heart. This man is a friend of God in His secrets.

The fourth kind of man is one who is invited to the world invisible, clothed in dignity, as is related in the saying of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) :

"Whoever learns and acts upon his learning and imparts it to others, is invited to the world invisible and made great."

Such a man is possessed of the knowledge of God, his heart is made the repositry of rare things of His knowledge and He intimates to him such secrets as He has kept hidden from others. So this man is the end and culminating point of mankind and there is no station above this, excepting that of Prophethood."

4) ON HARMONY AND HYPOCRISY:

"To take anything under pressure of desire without sanction from Allah, is swerving from duty and is in opposition to truth; and to take anything without being prompted by desire is harmony and agreement with truth, and to discard it is insincerity and hypocrisy."

5) TWO CONDITIONS OF NAFS:

"The condition of Nafs (self) can be divided into two states as there is no third one:

i) The state of happiness and

ii) the state of trouble.

So, when Nafs is in trouble there is anxiety, complaint, displeasure and criticism, and in this state one seeks to find fault with Allah;
one neither keeps patience nor displays cheerful submission and reconcilement.On the contrary, in the eagerness for worldly gains, Nafs finds fault with Almighty Allah and stoops down to infidelity, profanity and ingratitude.

When Nafs is at ease, it falls a a prey to greed, insolence, low desires and laxity. When it gratifies one desire, it clamours for more and belittles what it already possesses.Thereafter it finds fault, or inadequacy in the blessings he has and asks for one better than what it already has, and out of what is not its lot, and turns away from what is alloted to it. In the process man gets involved in a long series of troubles, and thus does not feel content with what he has in hand."

6) LOVE:

"Do you not know that He is one and loves oneness in the matter of love, and loves one who is singularity distinguished in his love for Him. If you like to be nearer to Him through someone else, your love for Him will become stained and shall stand divided into two."

7) DEATH WHICH HAS NO LIFE & LIFE WHICH HAS NO DEATH:

"A certain matter kept my mind very disturbed one day. My innerself was agitated under its burden and was crying for ease and relaxation, and a way out. I was asked, what I wanted. I said:

" I wanted death which has no life in it, and a life which has no death in it."

So I was asked what kind of death is that which has no life in it, and what kind of life is that which has no death in it. I said:

"The death which has no life in it, is my death from my own species so that I do not see them either in gain or in harm; and my death from my own self, and my own desire, and my own purpose, and my own wishes in my worldly life as well as in my life after death so much so that I do not live in any of these and am not found in them. And as for the life that has no death in it, it is my life with the act of my Lord in such a manner that I have no existence in it and my death in it is my existence with Him. Since I have attained understanding, this has been the most precious of all purposes of mine."

8) HUMILITY:

"Adopt humility for Allah-The Magnificient, and submit all your needs before Him. Refrain from any act initiated by your Nafs (self); meet Him and forget the rest; confess your sins and pray for His forgiveness. Be sure that no one has power to cause you harm, or to grant your favour or to provide you or not to provide you, but Allah."

9) MOST WISE AND MOST UNWISE:

"Most wise amongst you is he who obeys Allah-the Magnificient, and the most unwise is he who disobeys Him."

10) IMAN (FAITH):

"Ye! men, you are insensible and imprudent from the view point of Hereafter, and wise from the worldly point of view. But this wisdom of yours will not bring you eternal gain. Try to acquire Iman (faith) and continue to try till it is achieved."

11) REPENT:

"Repent, and be ashamed of your sins; let your tears flow upon your cheeks; your crying with the fear of Allah will extinguish the fire of your sins. The wrath of Allah will give way to His pleasure and your face will be aglow with the eternal light."

12) FEAR OF ALLAH:

"Any person who is desirous of being respected in this world and the Hereafter, must fear Allah. Undoubtedly, honour lies within the fear of Allah, and condemnation comes from His disobedience."

13) PATIENCE:

"Ye! men, if you want to be pious, contented and gifted with determination, you must cultivate patience. It is the basis of all virtues. In consideration thereof, the love and the nearness of Allah will be granted to you."

14) AMBITIONS:

"Ye! People, get rid of false ambitions and false hopes. Keep yourself busy in remembering Him. Speak out the word which is beneficial to you and avoid the word which brings you harm. If you want to say something, first think over it before you speak. It is rightly said that the tongue of an illiterate prevails over his heart, and the heart of a genious prevails over his tongue."

15) THE KALIMA:

"Ye! men, you are not born into this world only to live and pass your time in worldly pursuits. Change your ways which cause annoyance to Allah. You think it is enough merely to recite the Kalima. It would not help unless you practise it."

16) HOW TO ACQUIRE IMAN (FAITH):

"Iman is a blend of word and deed. It will not be acceptable to Allah and will not be beneficial to you either, until you give up your sinful acts and disobedience to the injunctions of Allah. What usefulness is there in your proclaiming the Oneness of Allah and belief in the Prophethood of Mohammad when you have abandoned prayers, fasting, charity and other good deeds."

17) GOOD DEEDS ARE NEVER WASTED:

"Whoever rendered service in the way of Almighty Allah, got everything pressed into his service, because He does not ignore the good deeds of anyone, even the smallest and the most insignificant."

18) MOMIN:

"The Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said that a Muslim is like a mirror for another Muslim; because when Iman of a Momin stands corrected he becomes a mirror for all the creatures."

19) HOW TO FOLLOW THE HOLY PROPHET (P.B.U.H.):

"The Holy Prophet (pbuh) is not present in person amongst you, that you may see him and follow him. Hence, when you follow the persons who act as the Kind Prophet (pbuh) had acted, it shall mean that you have followed the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

20) CONSIDERATION OF HIS PREACHING:

"Ye! people, remove the misgivings about me from your hearts. Neither I utter abuse nor gibberish, nor I am a lover of this world. I have always been polite and couteous to pious people. I have, in fact, served them, and ofcourse it has benefitted me. I do not ask you to pay me any consideration for delivering sermons which are for your welfare and well-being; the only suitable consideration for my sermon is for you to practise what you learn."


REFERENCE:

Ghous-ul-Azam Dastgir by Abdul Aziz Urfi




Regards,
angelfalls!!