Ink of the unseen

Introducing : “The Prophetic Method: The Path of Gratitude” by Dr. Azīz el-Kobaitī Idrīssī el-Ḥassanī (may Allah preserve him).

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and companions.
A servant constantly wonders how to reach his Lord, and what guiding lights may illuminate his journey toward Him. He finds the paths numerous and the ways many; either he becomes confused, or he seeks someone to guide him, to place his foot upon a path that truly leads to arrival safe from deviation and protected from error. At this point arises the compelling necessity that takes him by the reins and sets him upon a path toward Allah, in the companionship of a guiding sheikh.
To clarify this matter, Dr. Azīz el-Kobaitī Idrīssī el-Ḥassanī (may Allah preserve him) authored an important book in which he explains the reality of the path that leads to Allah, its landmarks, and the conditions required for traversing it. He entitled it: “The Prophetic Method: The Path of Gratitude.”
This is a renewal-oriented work in which the Shaykh highlights the distinctiveness and ease of the Path of Gratitude in the spiritual journey to Allah, in comparison with other paths. He explains the concept of the Path of Gratitude, its origins, its foundational principles, its lesser objectives, and its ultimate goal. Thus, the book stands as a gift from the lights of the mercy of our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, to everyone who seeks entry into the presence of the Beloved and knowledge of the Knower of all unseen things.
The Shaykh begins the book by explaining the motive and reason for its composition. He then proceeds to the first foundational principle: the definition of the Path of Gratitude, its origin, and its pillars.
The Path of Gratitude is the path of our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the Master of the Gnostics and the Leader of those who arrive. It is a path flowing from the love of Allah toward His servants, reminding souls of the primordial divine address by which Allah addressed them in the first realm: “And when your Lord took from the children of Adam from their loins their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes.’”
Its essential pillars are two:
•The pillar of the grateful one (al-shākir): the spiritual guide (the Shaykh, the educator).
•The pillar of gratitude (al-shukr): purification and spiritual striving.
The second foundational principle concerns the conditional foundations of the Path of Gratitude.
The Shaykh mentions seven conditions that must be fulfilled by the seeker (murīd) traveling to Allah through this path. These conditions determine the sincerity of the seeker’s request and the longing of his soul for arrival at Allah:
1.The condition of knowledge: necessary knowledge in creed and jurisprudence by which one’s religious practice becomes sound in acts of worship.
2.The condition of love: the soul’s longing, which reminds it of divine love and its primordial covenant.
3.The condition of knowing the path: knowledge of the practical method of the path and the authorization of its possessor to guide others.
4.The condition of sincerity: none traverses this path except one whose seeking is truly for Allah alone.
5.The condition of the grateful guide (the Shaykh): the essential pillar of the path; the seeker must take a spiritual guide authorized to lead and possessing a clear, practical method.
6.The condition of submission and obedience: the seeker must submit to his Shaykh so that he may be guided along the path submission that comes after witnessing proof.
7.The condition of truthful seeking: the driving force that compels the seeker to pursue Allah with persistence and sincerity.
The third foundational principle addresses the intended objectives of the Path of Gratitude.
These are four major objectives: three outward objectives and one inward objective.

A. The Three Outward Objectives:
1. Magnifying the Command of Allah.
This is the first intended goal in the Path of Gratitude. Such magnification is both an act of the heart and of the limbs. It is a station of spiritual ascent: as the heart’s reverence increases, the limbs rise accordingly.
Its reality lies in magnifying the outward dimension of the Sacred Law and allowing the spirit to be transformed through reverence until it dissolves in the greatness of Allah. The Shaykh organizes this into four ascending stations:
•Reverence of the limbs through adherence.
•Reverence of the heart for Allah’s command.
•Obedience of the limbs infused with conscious reverence.
•Reverence of the spirit for Allah’s command.
2. Magnifying the Command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
This is reverence for the one who arrives and grants arrival the bearer of the divine message and the intermediary of all creation. This is his path; from the spirit of his love it sprang forth, and from the springs of his connection it emerged. There is no arrival for the seeker except through his way, and no entry except through the gate of his presence.
The seeker traverses this objective through four stations—two outward and two inward.
Outward stations:
•Reverence of the limbs for the command of the Messenger ﷺ (divided by the Shaykh into five detailed levels)
•Reverence of the heart for the command of the Messenger ﷺ
Inward stations.
•Reverence of the spirit for the command of the Messenger ﷺ.
•Reverence for the call (daʿwah) of the Messenger ﷺ.
3. Compassion Toward Creation.
When the seeker realizes the second objective, he comes to perceive the origin of the creation of the Messenger ﷺ—derived from the fountain of mercy and compassion. When he knows him, connects with him, and becomes annihilated in him, he becomes mercy for creation, and compassion flows from him to all beings.
The Shaykh divides this compassion into two main categories:
•Outward compassion: bringing happiness to people and serving them.
•Inward compassion: guiding servants to Allah.
He elaborates on the levels of this compassion, outwardly and inwardly, throughout the book.

B. The Inward Objective: Perpetual Presence with Allah.
This inward goal cannot be realized except after fulfilling the preceding objectives. Through them, the seeker advances to the supreme goal and ultimate end: constant presence with Allah. This is the foundation that qualifies the seeker to attain Allah ; once he reaches it, he draws near to his greatest purpose.
The Shaykh presents seven stations through which the seeker passes, one by one:
1.The station of intellectual awareness through divine companionship
(“Allah is with me; Allah hears me; Allah sees me.”)
2.The station of sensing the presence
3.The station of witnessing the manifestations of presence
4.The station of annihilation in divine presence
5.The station of virtues and divine descents
6.The station of servanthood
7.The station of arrival
The Shaykh explains each of these in detail.

From what has preceded, it becomes clear that in this book the Shaykh gathers the landmarks of the journey to Allah through the Path of Gratitude—its conditions and its supreme objectives. This facilitates for the seeker theoretical knowledge of the path, raises his spiritual aspiration in practice, clarifies his purpose, and strengthens his sincerity so that he does not deviate along the way.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

|| essaid ait abbou ||
|| translated by: mouhamed bouargan ||

How Does One Reach Allah?

A person who frees himself from blind imitation and rigidity while immersed in the depths of life and its heedlessness inevitably wonders about the true meaning of reaching Allah, Exalted and Glorious. Is there a defined description or form of arrival by which one may measure his conduct and devotion?
Many people assume that reaching Him simply occurs through the passing of long years, filling them with various acts of worship and diverse forms of devotion performed selectively and according to personal inclination without regard for essential matters that constitute the very essence of servanthood and the spirit of true intentionality.
Is my present state one that Allah loves and is pleased with?
Was this how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his noble Companions worshipped?
Are there signs and marks that appear outwardly and inwardly upon the one who truly realizes these acts of devotion?
Is guidance to the path of Allah attained through the intellect, the ego, or through something else?
The intelligent believer does not doubt that Allah created the universe upon the foundation of causes and means. All causes ultimately return to their Originator and Sustainer Allah Most High who is the true Actor in reality. Rain does not descend except by a cause; fire does not ignite except by a cause; light does not emanate except by a cause; and so forth.
In accordance with this divine pattern, Allah has placed the taking of souls in the hands of the Angel of Death, the descent of revelation in the hands of Jibrīl, and the blowing of the Trumpet in the hands of Isrāfīl. Likewise, He has placed guidance and direction toward Him in the hands of our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
“Indeed, you guide to a straight path.”
The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were guided to the Truth through the Prophet ﷺ. Their hearts were purified and their spirits elevated only through proximity to his noble being ﷺ. Their souls were refined and cleansed through his light. Thus, his very being ﷺ was a cause for the guidance of creation, and his companionship was a means for their purification and connection to the Truth.
Just as Allah honored the Companions with the companionship of His Chosen One ﷺ through whom they attained elevation and nearness to Allah He has made this mercy enduring in creation until the Day of Resurrection: “We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds.”
Though the Messenger ﷺ has departed from this worldly life, he remains alive with a complete and perfected life, continuing the work of guidance and direction through the inheritors of his secret and the bearers of his banner “The scholars are the inheritors of the prophets.”
How could he have been a cause for the guidance and purification of the Companions, yet not remain a cause for the guidance of those who come after them? How could his companionship have been a means of nearness to Allah for them, yet not remain a means of nearness for us?
This function continues through those whom Allah has chosen to guide the Ummah and preserve it from deviation and misguidance. The journey to Allah requires companionship a company that protects you from the hardships of the path, distances you from dangers and pitfalls, and saves you from the plots of the ego and Satan. Companionship is a means, not an end; a guide, not the ultimate objective: “And seek the means of approach to Him.”
Just as he ﷺ was a purifier and guide for the Companions on their path to Allah, he remains our purifier, guide, and director—through those who inherited from him the mission of spiritual guidance and purification: first the Companions, then the Successors, then their successors, and so on until our present day. It is an unbroken chain connected to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ a luminous chain linking one to the Muhammadan path, a special grace granted by the Lord of the Worlds to our Master ﷺ.
This path is the Path of Gratitude, or if you prefer, the Path of Love.
It is reported that the Prophet ﷺ would stand in prayer at night until his blessed feet would swell and crack. Our mother ʿĀ’isha (may Allah be pleased with her and her father) said to him: “Allah has forgiven your past and future sins—why do you exert yourself so?” He replied, out of love and longing: “Should I not be a grateful servant?”
The Path of Gratitude is a living path to Allah, Exalted and Majestic. It is not founded upon the mere multiplication of acts of worship, nor upon withdrawal from people, nor upon suppressing the self through deprivation of worldly enjoyments that Allah has made lawful. Rather, it is founded upon gratitude and thankfulness to Allah for the love and longing He has poured into the believer’s soul that love which flowed from the One, the Unique God, into the souls of His servants in the World of Pre-Existence, when He addressed them without intermediary, without letters, and without form. They melted in that address with love and yearning, recognized their Lord, and affirmed the covenant: “Am I not your Lord?”
To remind His servants of this primordial address, Allah sent our noble Prophet the Muhammadan Reality clothed in human form our Master Muhammad ﷺ. Through his being in life, and through his inheritors after his passing, he reminds creation of that love, awakening the soul to its eternal covenant. The soul then melts in longing for our Master Muhammad ﷺ until it hears him and remains connected to him continually separating from the body in a separation of connection, not of death journeying to Allah through love, while the body continues fulfilling its role in the world until it meets Allah.
This path, traveled by the believer with his guide and spiritual mentor, differs from the path of asceticism (zuhd), which one may attempt alone through personal effort, in several respects:
1.The Path of Gratitude and Love is easier and faster, whereas the path of asceticism is more difficult, longer, and more perilous.
2.In the Path of Gratitude, the soul separates from the body in a connection without death, while in the other path the soul remains confined within the seeker until full arrival.
3.The Path of Gratitude does not require renouncing the world or what Allah has made lawful, unlike the ascetic who withdraws from people and suppresses himself through deprivation.
4.Knowledge of Allah in the Path of Gratitude is love from Allah within His servant, whereas in the ascetic path knowledge stems from the seeker’s own effort and devotion.
In this path, the servant’s mission rests upon two matters, as mentioned by our Shaykh Azīz el-Kobaitī Idrīssī el-Ḥassanī in his book “The Prophetic Method: The Path of Gratitude”:
1.Knowing one’s Lord and attaining nearness to Him.
2.Introducing creation to Allah and guiding them to Him.
The second requires living among people, serving them, humbling oneself before them, and guiding them toward that love so that the servant fulfills the purpose for which he was created and Allah completes for him his light.
Whoever follows the Path of Gratitude will, without doubt, arrive.
This path rests upon two inseparable pillars:
1.The spiritual guide (the Shaykh), who is the grateful one.
2.Purification and spiritual striving, which constitute gratitude itself.
They are two parallel lines that cannot be separated. Whoever seeks to reach Allah through gratitude without a guide goes astray. Whoever follows a guide without purification and striving does not arrive. Through both together one reaches the Praised One who in reality is the One who is grateful to Himself: Allah, the Intended and Sought. Everything is connected to Him and points toward Him. Everything journeys toward Him whether compelled or willingly nothing escapes His command, and He is the Subduer above His servants.
It becomes clear from what has been mentioned that the Companions attained their elevated ranks and stations of sainthood and righteousness through our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and through his companionship. Their method of spiritual journeying was his method. Therefore, the best path that leads creation to Allah must be the path traveled by the Companions alongside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is reported: “Hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me.”
Whoever turns away from it will surely go astray and will not find the right path.

|| Abdelaaziz qortobi ||
|| translated by: mohamed bouargan ||

The Reality of Knowledge.

Indeed, the deniers have only been led astray by their heedlessness and their absence from the inward state. They have imprisoned their sciences, their understandings, and their connection to their Lord and to His Prophet ﷺ within outward forms. For them, truth and faith go no further than tongues and throats.
How far such people are from guidance, when they imagine that understanding from God consists of written rules endlessly chewed over by human intellects through analysis, refinement, acceptance, and rejection.
How great is the deprivation of one who thinks he has grasped realities and encompassed knowledges merely by memorizing texts and studying books—books which, if presented to Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, they would not recognize most of what is in them, nor would they find a path to their understanding.
Imam al-Ghazali (may God be pleased with him) says:
If you are content with imitation and with looking at what people commonly regard as ranks of merit, do not neglect the Companions and the loftiness of their station. Their precedence was not through discourse or jurisprudence, but through knowledge of the Hereafter and walking its path. Abu Bakr did not surpass people through abundant fasting or prayer, nor through prolific narration, fatwas, or speech—but through something that settled in his heart, as testified by the Master of Messengers ﷺ. So let your concern be the pursuit of that secret, for it is the precious jewel and hidden pearl. Leave aside what most people agree upon and magnify, for reasons and motives whose explanation would be lengthy.
The calamity is that those most deficient in knowledge are often the fiercest deniers. Otherwise, whoever truly attains its higher stations—through divine success and guidance—understands it, gains insight, is illuminated by it, and realizes that knowledge has a lower degree: that which human intellects circulate by examining transmitted texts. Between this and God’s intent stand intermediaries, and there is no way to assert that it is from God except conjecturally. Most of it has no direct role in connecting the servant to his Lord or elevating him in divine knowledge.
And there is a higher degree: the light cast into hearts, by which the servant perceives realities, acquires true knowledge, sees things as they truly are, and grasps God’s intent as though seeing it without intermediary or veil.
That is knowledge.
That is knowledge.
That is knowledge.
Imam al-Ghazali (may God be pleased with him) also said:
The people of scrupulousness among the outward scholars acknowledged the merit of the inward scholars and the masters of hearts. Imam al-Shafi‘i used to sit before Shayban al-Ra‘i( the shepherd) as a child sits in school, asking him how to act in this and that. When it was said to him, “Someone like you asks this Bedouin?” he replied, “This man has been granted success in what we have neglected.”
Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Yahya ibn Ma‘in used to visit Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi, though he did not possess their level of outward learning, and they would ask him questions.
Hence it was said: the outward scholars are the adornment of the earth and the realm, while the inward scholars are the adornment of the heavens and the unseen kingdom.
In the book of” Tabaqat al-Hanabila”, it is related that Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:
Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi is among the spiritual substitutes (abdal) and his supplications are answered.
When Ma‘ruf was mentioned in Ahmad’s gathering, someone present remarked, “He has little knowledge.” Ahmad replied, “Hold your tongue—may God have mercy on you. Is anything sought from knowledge other than what Ma‘ruf attained?”
‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad reported that he asked his father, “Did Ma‘ruf possess knowledge?” He replied, “My son, he possessed the head of knowledge: fear of God.”
Ahmad said to al-Marwadhi:
If you are told something about Ma‘ruf from the matters of heaven, accept it.
And from Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him):
Preserve what comes from the righteous, for truthful matters are unveiled to them.
In the book of “Lata’if al-Isharat”:
The scholars’ criterion is acquired through proof; the gnostics’ criterion is bestowed through direct knowing. Those rely on their own striving; these on the generosity of their Lord.
Our Shaykh Aziz el-Kobaiti Idrissi al-Hassani (may God be pleased with him) wrote in The Unique Method in Unveiling the Veils of the Seeker, in the chapter on intellectual veils (the veil of religious knowledge):
This knowledge itself can become a barrier to knowing God if the seeker confines himself to it and misunderstands it—and he will surely misunderstand it if he restricts himself to it. Thus, the soundest path is for the seeker to take knowledge in its entirety, outward and inward. Outward without inward is deviation; inward without outward may lead to heresy.
O you who circle the shell—
when will you fast from the kernel?
Everyone imagines that beyond his own understanding
there is no understanding,
and beyond his knowledge,
no knowledge.
Veiled by the ranks of stations,
he is called a scholar or a seeker.
Shaykh Zarruq al-Fasi (may God have mercy on him) spoke of how the realities of things are imprinted upon souls from the Day of the Covenant, then said:
If this is so, teaching and learning do not bestow it. Rather, exposing oneself to divine breaths through signs of sincerity—in word, deed, and state—is what matters. For whoever acts upon what he knows, God bequeaths him knowledge of what he did not know. His knowledge then comes from his Lord to his heart, and this is the most complete and noble of sciences after knowing principles and foundations. So understand—and seek the thing from within yourself; you will find it closer to you than you are to yourself.
He thus distinguished between knowledge inked by intellects and conjectures, and knowledge that shines from the lights of the unseen treasuries and drinks from the hidden secret.
Among the signs of being imprisoned in outwardness and heedless of inward states is the inability to perceive God’s secret in His saints and the chosen heirs of His Prophet ﷺ. You see them looking, yet not seeing—because they do not go beyond outward sight nor are they present in inward tasting. Their eyes merely trace words and structures; their inner vision does not pe*****te to secrets and meanings. They know of knowledge only letters exiting tongues and entering ears, unaware that some knowledge is a light that emanates from the hearts of the gnostics and pierces the souls.
They recognize only a tongue that utters ornate phrases and displays polished quotations—never realizing that a single glance may heal a servant, that noticing the poor may enrich and suffice them.
He reminds you of God when you see him
and leads the servant to his Lord.
Thus, when they look, they do not see what those who have tasted perceive—those who know love and longing.
So there is no argument—given the state you see—for the one who lacks against the one who possesses.
O you who blame me for chaste love—pardon me;
were you fair, you would not blame me.
And had you tasted, you would not blame.
Ibn al-Banna al-Saraqosti said about those who reject without knowing the state or intent:
Whoever denies anything of this
does so for seven reasons:
ignorance of his noble soul
and that it is God’s vicegerent on earth;
ignorance of the intelligible world,
preoccupation with the outward of transmitted texts;
neglect of the works of hearts,
and immersion in what is disliked and desired.
“And whoever God has not given light—he has no light.”
And praise belongs to God, Lord of all worlds.

|| Saif eddine roudani ||
|| Translated by: mohamed bouargan ||

Sayyid Salman al-Farisi: A Seeker of Truth.

There are souls that never find rest—souls stirred by the wind of longing even before their feet touch the path, as if they were created with an inner compass pointing only toward truth. The story of the Muhammadan inheritances opens its doors only to those who carry the key of sincerity, the key born by that profound stranger in search: Salman al-Farisi.
His story was not merely a physical journey across lands; it was a painful birth into authenticity, a stripping away of inherited illusions. From the heart of Asfahan—specifically from the ancient village of Jay, with its flowing waters and gardens—Salman emerged from among the smoke of Zoroastrian fires he was charged with tending. Though entrusted with guarding the sacred fire, his heart felt the cold of uncertainty. That fire, revered by his people, appeared to him as a thick veil blocking the eternal light his soul sensed from afar.
Salman fled the false paradise of his father’s house and the emotional bonds that sought to imprison his spirit in empty rituals. He cast himself into the unknown, moving between the cells of monks, drawing wisdom from prayer after prayer, seeking remnants of uncorrupted truth. Each farewell to a monk was also a farewell to an illusion, until destiny whispered its decisive word: the final monk told him that the time of a prophet had come—one who would arise in the land of the Arabs, migrate to a place between two volcanic plains, rich in palm trees.
The path to that land was harsh. Salman was betrayed, sold into slavery, and passed from master to master until he reached Yathrib (later Madinah), tending palm trees while his heart clung to a promise from heaven.
When the Prophet’s arrival finally occurred, Salman found more than a city of palm trees—he found the homeland his soul had longed for since before time. Amid exhausting labor under the Madinan sun, he watched the Prophet with the eyes of longing, not habit. The signs he had been told appeared clearly: a man who did not consume charity but accepted gifts with dignity; a face bearing a light no liar could wear. And when Salman saw the Seal of Prophethood between the Prophet’s shoulders, he recognized not merely a physical sign, but the seal of divine care that had followed him in his dreams back in Persia.
In Madinah, Salman rediscovered the self he had lost among fire temples and monasteries. He found a serenity no palace could grant and a freedom no slavery could erase. That meeting was the true ascension of a soul exhausted by travel.
In the Prophet’s presence, Salman beheld an eternal sun surrounded by radiant moons and shining stars—figures who drew their permanence from its light. He witnessed companions who had annihilated the ego in truthfulness, others whose presence distinguished light from darkness, others whose modesty overflowed as generosity, and those who became gateways to knowledge and wisdom. He saw migrants who left their homelands out of love, helpers who opened their hearts in shelter, the wealthy who devoted their riches to the truth, and the poor who made the mosque their spiritual home. He saw slaves freed by faith and freemen enslaved only to God. He heard the voice of Bilal carrying the secrets of divine unity, saw trustworthiness, courage, elders rooted in obedience, children nourished by wisdom, and women whose hearts became vessels of tranquility. The Muhammadan light left no land untouched, no age, gender, or status deprived of its share.
From the Prophet, Salman inherited sincerity in seeking—a sincerity so profound that it led to the declaration: “Salman is from us, the People of the House.” This was not mere historical praise, but a statement of spiritual rank. Salman’s identity dissolved into the Muhammadan identity through following and self-effacement. This saying opens the door of hope to every sincere seeker: spiritual kinship can rival—and even surpass—blood ties. Nearness to the Prophet’s household is attained through embodying their character, not merely claiming lineage.
Salman’s journey is a mirror in which we see ourselves today. We are all, in some way, Salmans—moving from path to path, group to group, search to search, driven by the hope of finding truth. As for me, I am but a seeker following the footsteps of that Persian traveler, carried by the waves of searching until God granted me entry into this upright spiritual path under the care of the Muhammadan inheritor, my master Aziz al-kobaiti al-Idrissi. Through him, we touch the continuity of that inheritance and glimpse the face of the Prophet—peace be upon him—in the mirror of our own time.

|| Idriss Ammari ||
|| translated by: mohamed bouargan ||

We cannot enumerate praise for our master, the Messenger of Allah; he is exactly as his Lord, Glorified and Exalted, has praised him.
Even if Allah were to open for you the gates of praise and grant you mastery over eloquence and expression, you would still be incapable of fully praising our master Muḥammad, nor would you ever grasp the perfection of his attributes.
Rather, Allah Most High moves certain tongues to praise him as an act of honor and elevation for those tongues; otherwise, Allah has taken him exclusively for Himself, fashioned him under His direct care, raised his remembrance, and no created being can ever fulfill his due.
He is the Beloved of Allah, the best of Allah’s creation, the manifestation of the Divine Names, the Light of Allah, the imprint of Allah, the Beauty of Allah.
If some of the righteous among his Ummah, when seen, cause Allah to be remembered—then what of him ﷺ, whose rank and stature none of creation can ever approach?
He is the one for whom Allah made knowledge of Himself conditional upon knowledge of him, made his remembrance inseparable from His remembrance, and made the acceptance of every outward and inward deed dependent upon him and through him.
His knowledge is drawn from the ocean of absolute Divine Oneness. Allah left nothing in him for himself alone; he is mercy to creation and for creation. Allah adorned him with noble qualities He granted to no one else among His creatures.
Allah has forbidden the tasting of true knowledge of Him and intimacy with Him except through the Messenger of Allah.
He is the key to the Garden of Divine Knowledges and the Garden of spiritual adornments.
The supreme mercy.
The greatest blessing.
Remembering the Messenger of Allah, occupying one’s time with him, sending prayers upon him, and finding intimacy with him—all of this is but the least of what his noble station deserves.
Every movement of the lover should be in connection with him, in conscious presence with him, never heedless of him.
For heedlessness of the Messenger of Allah is heedlessness of Allah,
and presence with the Messenger of Allah is presence with Allah.
Occupying one’s time with the Messenger of Allah is Allah’s sufficiency for the servant against every worry and sorrow, in religion and in worldly life alike.
Love of the Messenger of Allah is love of Allah itself.
Intimacy with the Messenger of Allah is intimacy with Allah itself.
Conversing with the Messenger of Allah and addressing him is conversing with and addressing Allah.
Disobedience to the Messenger of Allah is disobedience to Allah.
Whoever fulfills the rights of the Messenger of Allah—though he can never fully do so, however much he strives—is in fact fulfilling the rights of Allah.
And none truly knows the Messenger of Allah except one whom Allah has granted permission to know Him through the Messenger.
So purify your heart of all but his love,
for love of him is itself a sanctifying refuge.

|| Hamid el-hilali ||
|| Translated by: mohamed bouargan ||