ALMISKEENAH

 

O MAJESTIC MOON…

I saw you

teetering

on a minaret crescent

competing with the earthly masquerade

of parading shawls, hats, fabric ruffled and charmed by an icy wind

as sequins and beads dazzled

in a random balletic swirl

while your celestial companions obey an orbital script

in this panoramic departure

 

O Majestic Moon…

suspended in a glassy glacial void as

heavenly harmonics lull an epiphany

entitled “the leaving lament”

with a plaintive chorus of earthly sobs of grief

as souls reconcile separation

is that a tear 

about to drop? 

O Majestic Moon…

I too weep seeing lovers disappear

a giddy vanishing act

as numb farewells  fade into an inaudible hush

then silence.


O Majestic Moon…

disguised as a golden bowl

if tilted

a spill

of silky mercurial luster

would fossilize all

to become sculptural effigies  

permanently transfixed on the Abode

but how then would mysteries be transcended

and ardent yearning

lead to inebriation and delight

in the Garden

where the obedient will frolic with our noble martyrs,

reclining on brocade couches with the Beloved

and the Beloved of the Beloved

 

O Majestic Moon…

as you glide

over valleys and mountains

preoccupied with the reality of certainty

inspire our hearts with your faithful shine

so the Truly Magnificent  

rolls up distances of space and time

blessing all with the grace of proximity

obliterating all  but Him and His.

 

O Majestic Moon…

as all depart

you gambol in hide and seek

the vista is now painted

with a palette of silvery grey hues

imbibing a feathery soft

canopied veil of emptiness

fresh scrolls lay before us

the shade of the tree beckons

may our musing be transient

as travelers in orbit

to where separation is nonexistent

and existence is bliss.

 

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 "His, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam mubarak face shone like the full moon"

Hasan ibn Ali RadhiAllahu 

 

 "At times I looked at the full moon, and at times at Rasulullah SallAllahu laihi wasallam. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam was more handsome, beautiful and radiant than the full moon."

Jaabir RadhiAllahu anhu  

If the illumination in the temple and sanctuary is through the sun and the moon, so what.

I desire you, what should I do with my sight. 

 

"His, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam mubarak face was like a full moon with its roundness." 

Baraa ibn ‘aazib RadhiAllahu anhu 

 

"He is like a blooming flower in freshness

and the full moon in splendour." 

Busairi Rahmatullah alaihi 

Photos taken this evening after Esha.

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen. 

 

 

O MAJESTIC MOON.

O Majestic Moon, your face darkly shaded in this night of velvet. You seem to be hiding from the twinkle of the starts as you retreat, reflecting in solitude on how it was all those hundreds of years ago.  How anxious you must have been peering down in your dark phase awaiting the moment the world had been created for.

O Majestic Moon, what breadth and magnitude of the signs of the Creator you have seen. Multitude displays of magnificence you have been blessed to share. Witnessing over thousands of light years the stage being readied for the time ordained when the Divinity of Allah Himself would grace humanity through His most beloved, the Mercy of the Worlds.

O Majestic Moon, created from one drop of sweat from the face of the Holy Soul of Muhammad as it recited Al-Qahhar from the Most Beautiful Names. Your entry into the realm of the tangible was a time so phenomenal, totally beyond our comprehension. O Majestic Moon, were you present when Jibril was asked by the Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu alaihi wasallam how long he had been created? Did you hear Jibril answer that he did not know? That all he knew was that every seventy thousand years a tremendous light shone forth from the Canopy of the Divine Throne, and since the time of his creation it had appeared twelve thousand times! How did you remain suspended in your orb bearing testimony to all of this O Majestic Moon? What unimaginable joy and splendor must have infused the time when there were only the souls of Angels, the Tablets and the Pen, the sun, the planets, the stars and you, before the Almighty fashioned Adam from clay.

O Majestic Moon, what heavy secrets and profound knowledge you have been given witness to through the glory of all previous prophets.  What sublime teachings have been revealed, all noted by your constant presence; all leading to the coming of the crown of creation. You must have known as you attentively heard the melodious voice of Dawud sing his Zabur that words more sublime were to follow. Or as you gasped at the beauty of Yusuf that one born of the Light of the Light was destined to follow with blessings beyond compare. Or while listening to Musa speak with the Almighty that He was yet to send the most praiseworthy of all. Or watching Nuh spend hundreds of years calling all to worship the One, with few heeding his advice, knowing that it was written on the Arch of Allah that He was preparing the world for the one who would excel in generosity and munificence and whose teachings would spread to every corner of the earth you see rotating as you orbit around it. Or how amazing it must have been to share your space with Sulaiman flying by with a throng of Angels and Jinn shading his vast kingdom. O Majestic Moon, did you ever wonder how anything greater could be promised?

O Majestic Moon, my feeble mind can barely imagine the signs you witnessed during the final year of preparation. Auspicious Divine precursors of the light to come. Abraha with his mighty army reduced to mere stubble by the sheer might of Allah by the obedience of the smallest of birds! Allahu Akbar. While you were the spectator of the dramatic antics of the elephant, the Qudrat of Allah the Almighty, and His plans of perfection, surely more resounding cries of Allahu Akbar filled the heavens. And the same year rains of mercy must have blurred your vision as they drenched land parched and barren for years. Divine signs.  Flourishing crops, fattened herds. Harbingers of the illustrious Orphaned Pearl from Paradise gently stirring in the womb of our dearest lady, his mother, Aminah. Verily, The Year of Plenty! Allahu Akbar.

O Majestic Moon, isn’t every second a second of plenty with the knowledge that everything is under the wise decree of the Creator of Causes?  The One Who Caused the return of His favoured Abdullah at such a time when he was to rejoice in being the father of Your cherished and most exalted creation.  O Majestic Moon, you must have seen why he was favoured? The heart wrenching moment when his father Abdul-Muttalib was prepared to sacrifice him, but Our Rabb accepted one hundred camels instead. What memories this must have stirred when centuries earlier you also peered down watching Ibrahim dutifully obeying the commands of Almighty Allah, by also offering to sacrifice his son. O Majestic Moon, did you shed one tear, enough to fill an ocean, realizing the Almighty’s grand plan for His Beloved not to know his father, so that he would call on Him directly? SubhanAllah!  

O majestic Moon, just as you excitedly have always waited for your appointed time, we too, with great expectation will watch for your delicate silver thread embroidered in a sky of silk, your shy face heralding the beginning of the month of celebration. A celebration of the coming of the Embellishment of all that Allah Ta’ala has Embellished.

O Majestic Moon, may we join you along with the entire creation, in a continuous refrain of countless salutations, until there remains not a single drop of salutations upon Muhammad SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, whose light preceeded all creation.

 

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.  May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen. 

 

 

 

 

O Majestic Moon, so esteemed by the Creator to have your name highlighted so many times in the Preserved Tablet, to be repeated by Gibril and the Most Favoured, and written over and over in The Book of Books embroidering the globe, to constantly be on the tongues and in the hearts of millions of believers.

O Majestic Moon, I witnessed you playfully engrossed in a hide and seek as Commanded, in the shadows of the floating orbs of sun and earth, demurely preparing your glowing coppery niqab for another enactment of His Signs and reminders to those who ponder.

O Majestic Moon, your Haya in this guise kept you from your more intimate embrace of the Dome of Felicity. On this night your songs of praise and adoration exulted from a distance as you peered from high in the heavens accompanied by the lyrical harmonics of all celestial beings. A galactic crescendo Decreed to perform this harmony of the spheres only on rare occasions, imparting mystical mysteries, dispersed with staccato interludes of warning and retribution from Ahad, Ahad.

O Majestic Moon, how you must shiver as the cymbals crash their message to fear Him and how you must sway in soothing motion lulled by the repetitive themes extolling Taqwa.  

O Majestic Moon, my desire was to capture your beguiling beauty to cherish forever, to exhibit your exquisite aura exuded by this unique event. But your gentle whispers spoke of impermanence, of mortality, of turning my gaze from you, entering the Arc of Ascent, seeking the intrinsically Divine.

O Majestic Moon, then the skies vibrated with the call As-Salatu Jaamiah, As-Salatu Jaamiah, as footsteps hurried across marbled shine to the hallowed confines of the Haram. You watched as necks no longer craned seeking your image, but now bent in humility and submission to His Words as found in As-Saffat. This small selected group of slaves emerging from the nights embrace, arranged in rows, unified in the safety of His prayer, following the way of His Habib, SallAllahu alaihi wassalam, seeking His refuge as you, O Majestic Moon, were bathed in a deep amber gown. I so much wanted to stare at your transformation, to be transfixed as you were suspended far beyond the opened dome of Masjid Nabawi, but my concentration was snatched and imprisoned by Him as At-Tur resonated from pillar to pillar of this almost empty Sanctuary. Heralding the bliss that will be enjoyed by the believers, contrasted with the torments of the Fire. Allah Almighty swearing by the Mountain that our judgement is inevitable Ya Lateef.  

O Majestic Moon, your view  from so high above must have seen bodies bent in Ruku for an eternity, I dared not look to you, my soul and being devoted to the One Who demanded all of me, head now sunk to where the veils are lifted, SubhanAllah!

O Majestic Moon, as your cameo role was enacted out, your significance became peripheral, my heart shivered with the Words of Al Haqqa where our Rabb swears by what we can see and what we cannot see, with His reminders continuing in Al-Mar’arij.  How could I contemplate lifting my gaze to watch your moves, as Allah Ta’ala is mentioning who will be honoured in Gardens of bliss?  

 

O Majestic Moon, maybe you did not see me treading gently in an ethereal darkness, while your attention was arrested as you obediently shed your luminosity. Maybe none other than Allah Ta’ala and His Most Beloved Messenger, SallAllahu alaihi wassalam saw me shyly pass the darkened Abode, where transparent tears fell as if in a cup, the container and the contained becoming one.

 

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Ameen. 

 

 

JUMA’AH MUBARAK on this "white" evening of 17th Dhu’l-Qadah. Meanderings in and around Haram at 9pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Insha’Allah I will write a few comments tomorrow.

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Ameen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning’s meanderings.

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Ameen. 

 

 

 

 

O Majestic Moon

Shyly appearing in your silvery sequined Rajabi shawl.

Lingering in a sky silent to our earthly ears,

but resplendent in the symphony of orbs and

Angels.

Constant in your numinous incantations of the Sovereign Lord.

SubhanAllah SubhanAllah SubhanAllah.

O Chanting Moon

Divulge the secret of this

Enduring glorification.

 

A misty gossamer veil

Conceals your delight of announcing this

Month of Almighty Allah.

 

The void is splintered

into a myriad of tiny sparks of light

by the clink of a key you drop

on mirror marble

of my heart.

Inviting.

Enticing me to unlock the accumulated sediment.

Repent, atone

prepare.

 

O Felicitous Moon,

By His permission

you exude the fragrance of Heaven.

An intoxicating mix of Sidr and Musk,

Seeping earthward.

Mingling with the perfumed pearls ascending from Al Habib Al Mustafa

SallAllahu alaihi wasallam

as his melodious response to your heralding this blessed month

is carried on a scented zephyr

to The Throne of Divinity.

"O Allah, bestow Your grace upon us in Rajab and Sha’ban, and allow us to live into Ramadhan."

 

O Dignified Moon,

Your delicate wispy crescent,

emitting a shimmering aura of

PEACE, HOPE, STABILITY,

beholds the expectation of pilgrims

amassing around the slender minarets.

Sentinels extending skyward,

as do the outstretched hands,

Cupped,

waiting

to catch

Allah’s unlimited bounties.

Ameen, Ameen, Ameen,

To every prayer recited every second every where.

Ameen, Ameen, Ameen.

 

O Compassionate Moon,

As I glance at you

wiping your countenance

with a passing cloud,

A splash of tear falls on my cheek.

Falling falling falling

From your sobbing

as a shooting star.

Mingling with the copious weeping

Of the bereft Ummah.

May our lamenting

Be answered

Cultivating golden bursts of

Unity.

 

O Virtuous Moon,

A suspended ship

Sailing the vast oceans of the sky,

smuggling our awe and wonder.

While captives in your graceful embrace

we ponder the Greatness of Our Creator.

Release your clasp as

I am ready to forsake my all.

Surrendering

To the Owner of your Rajab cycle.

 

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Ameen. 

 

 

 

O Majestic Moon.

O Majestic Moon, bursting with a glowing fullness, serenely sailing effortlessly above this City of Light.

Exalted is He who put constellations in the Heavens, a radiant light, and an illuminating moon. (25:61)

For how many eons have you glided over this sacred place. Knowing from the beginning of your creation, as written on the ‘Arshi Llahi, that Muhammad SallAllahu alaihi wasallam was destined to bless this landscape. How more luminous you must have become upon his arrival, submitting to the Will of your Creator to be split in two for the Best of Creation SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.

The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder. (55:1)

O Obedient Moon, you heard Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam say, "Witness this miracle." And how his uncle Abu Talib tried to dissuade the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam so as to keep the peace between him and the idolaters. In words soft and gentle he begged the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam to abandon his affair. Dear Moon, you heard the reply "O my uncle, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand to cause me to renounce my task, verily I would not desist there from until Allah made manifest His cause or I perished in the attempt." The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, overcome by the thought that his uncle and protector was willing to desert him, turned to depart. But Abu Talib called him loudly to come back, and he came. "Say whatever you please; for by the Lord I shall not desert you ever." All the while you patiently followed your course with the sun, as Commanded.

O Patient Moon, did you tremble when Ibrahim Alahis Salam thought you were his Rabb?

Euphoria fills the heart as you fill the Madinah sky with your beauty. How many cycles of your sublime waxing and waning witnessed our Beloved SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and his respected Companions RadhiAllahu anhum? Dedicating their lives for the propagation of this glorious Deen. And centuries later your enviable path takes you above his resting place. How you must swoon in ecstasy on gaining such proximity. What restraint you must succumb to maintaining your decreed journey and not following your passions by falling into the lap of the most Beloved of Allah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. SubhanAllah. What words of delight must be exchanged as you float by, so close, so often and for so long.

Am I truly looking at the same moon who brought joy and elation to our Noble Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and his Noble Companions RadhiAllahu anhum signaling the times for each new month to be born, heralding Ramadhan, Hajj and the two Eids.

 

O Shy Moon, how you must love people searching for you in the vast sky at each new birth. And what happiness you must feel peering through the open domes of Masjid Nabawi seeing the sufra spread surrounded by hundreds of worshippers eager for Allah Ta’ala’s favours as they break their fast for your three white days. You must be rapturous in seeing the Sunnah being upheld.

O Forever Wandering Moon, swelling and diminishing, my tears drop on the Mubarak dust of Madinah. Are they dropping on the same place you would have seen Sayyidatuna Fatimah RadhiAllahu anha with her blessed sons, Hasan and Hussain RadhiAllahu anhuma. Maybe they were playing, maybe Sayyidatuna Fatimah RadhiAllahu anha was carrying water or grinding flour. Or were you hiding your pleasure when Umar RadhiAllahu took advantage of your dark side, secretly roaming  the streets of Madinah distributing Sadaqah to the poor. Perhaps you were present when Ali RadhiAllahu anhu spared the life of his enemy due his own anger rather than killing him with the sincerity of intention that it was for Allah Ta’ala. O Benevolent Moon, maybe you witnessed the army of Angels fighting with the Muslims in the town bearing one of your names, Badr.

O Spectacular Moon, how mesmerized I become thinking that you are 400,000 kilometers away, but so powerful that you play tug with the oceans twice a day. SubhanAllah. Allahu Akbar. Glorified be Your Name, Lord of the Worlds! Glory be to Him Who chose for everything its proper place and the right measure, according to calculation unknown but to Him.

He makes the dawn break; He makes the night for rest; and He made the sun and the moon to a precise measure. That is the design of the Almighty, the All Knowing. (6:96)

O Elegant Moon, so blessed to have heard words falling from the laudable lips of our Blessed Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam every month as you renewed your appearance to him: "A new moon of good and right guidance; a new moon of good and right guidance; a new moon of good and right guidance. I believe in Him Who created you" three times. He would then say: "Praise be to Allah Who has made such and such a month to pass and has brought such and such a month."

O Cheerful Moon, how often your charm has been used for the best of descriptions in countless traditions and poetry extolling the virtues of our Majestic Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. "His face was glittering with happiness, for when ever Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam was happy, his face used to glitter, as if it was a piece of the full moon." "He is like a blooming flower in its freshness and the full moon in its spendour." "Mohammed is the exemplar to both worlds, the guide of the descendants of Adam. He is the sun of creation, the moon of the celestial spheres, the all-seeing eye." "You are like the full moon, nay you are brighter Your face is like fine water that drips, O Ornament of the World, O Aim of Hopes Who has ever perceived a face such as yours?" "He saw the Prophet, lovely as the moon, Whose face, Truth’s shadow, was the sun at noon, Whose hair in two black heavy braids was curled –Each hair, a hundred times, out priced the world."

O Enthralling Moon what delight it must have been to hear the welcoming singing of the people as Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam first entered Madinah. "Oh the white moon rose over us. From the valley of Wada. And we owe it to show gratefulness. Where the call is to Allah. Oh you who were raised among us. Coming with a word to be obeyed. You have brought to this city nobleness. Welcome best caller to God’s way. Welcome best caller to God’s way."

With such hope, O Endearing Moon, your image inspires us, the Ummah of Muhammad SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, to redeem ourselves, to repent, to obey, so that we may be among the elite in the Eyes of Allah Ta’ala, and be recognized for intercession by Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the full moon, over the rest of the stars. The first group of people who will enter Paradise will be shining like the full moon. And those unfortunate ones who need to spend time in Jahannam will by Divine decree, be rescued and liberated from the Fire by the venerable Muhammad SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Washed by the Water of Life at the Gate of Paradise and made perfectly clean again, they will have their youth restored. Their faces will be like the full moon. Only these words will be written on their foreheads: “These were the People of the Fire. Allah, the All-Merciful freed them from that fire.” With this writing on their foreheads they will enter Paradise. After a while they will plead with the Lord to have that writing removed from their brows, explaining that it leaves them in shame, in sorrow and in remorse. The All-Glorious One will accept their prayer, and will erase that writing from their brows. Having been rescued from torment because of their faith, and through the intercession of Muhammad SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, the disobedient members of his Ummah rejoice in divine favor. Allah, save us from the Fire, and admit us to Paradise with the righteous.

O  Amiable Moon, how you must smile at the story of Nasreddin Hoja! As he was returning home late and tired one night, he stopped at the village well to draw a drink for himself. He was horrified to see the full moon reflected in the dark water at the bottom of the well. "Good Lord, the moon’s fallen down the well!" he muttered to himself. "I’ve got to rescue it! What would we do without the beautiful moon?" He grabbed the bucket and rope that lay beside the well and tossed the bucket in. Then he maneuvered it with the rope until he saw the moon reflecting safely from the water in the bucket. Bending over the well, he tried to raise the bucket. But its lip was stuck on a stone, and the more Nasreddin Hoja pulled, the less successful he was at raising the bucket and rescuing the moon. Finally he braced his foot on the edge of the well and heaved. Suddenly the bucket broke loose and the Hoja tumbled onto his back beside the well. Above him, he saw the lovely full moon floating serenely in the sky. "Well, that’s a good job done," he said to himself as he got to his feet. "Praise God, the moon is back where it belongs!" And he went home to bed.

O Mellow Moon, may I learn obedience from you, how to stay on course, may a fraction of your secrets of Glorifying our Lord be revealed to me.

O Humble Moon, may I learn from your humility. If for one split second you wavered from the Laws of Allah Ta’ala the tide would be so strong that it could fragment mountains and dislodge continents from their place.

O Dulcet Moon, convey my salam on our Prince of Peace SallAllahu alaihi wasallam each and every time you glide over his green Abode of Peace.

 

 Crescent moon photo from this gallery

Other excellent moonsighting articles. 

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Ameen.