Al Sufian

iconSufa 94 - The Invocation (Al-Dhikr)

1O you who believe! Let it be said: Al-Hamid;
2The All Praiseworthy;
3And the sixty-sixth name of Allah, the One, the Absolute, the Almighty.
4A man who gives thanks for nothing, deserves nothing in return.
5A man who divorces the Divine from his life, creates his own doom.
6Yet a man who gives thanks to Allah even for the smallest of wonders of a day, is a man rich in blessings.
7Thus, a true Muslim prays not because of fear or ignorance, but out of knowledge and respect.
8The frequency of formal prayer is in the binding of good habit, leading to good character.
9He whom prays yet does not cease from wrongdoing and evil, gains nothing but in remoteness from the Divine.
10Right prayer then is right intention, right mind and right action.
11In prayers, all thoughts must be laid aside but those of the Divine in conversation.
12No word in prayer is to be uttered which afterwards a man seeks to repent.
13No word in prayer is to be uttered if no mind or knowledge of meaning be present.
14If a teacher or scholar tells you that your prayer if not valid to Allah unless done according to this or that ritual,
15Expel them immediately as the very worst of imposters.
16Do not allow such blasphemies to be spoken in any holy place of Islam.
17Verily, Allah rewards not those who perform as monkeys with stone hearts,
18But a person who submits without condition to the will of Allah,
19And comes with a pure heart of compassion.
20Above all things, what is most pleasing to Allah when you pray, is a still mind and a warm heart.
21Allah cares not how many times you bow, but how many heartbeats are truly felt in prayer.
22O you who believe! Obey not those who wish to make you speak as birds and behave as sheep,
23But be honest in your intentions in prayer.
24The most powerful of prayer is to pray for the well being and benefit of strangers.
25The most evil of actions is to pray for misfortune to befall another.
26To use prayer to pray for the misfortune of others is a grave transgression against Islam.
27As is written in the Way of Islam, which is the same as it is in Heaven, our mind never dies, but lives on into the next world.
28Beware those that wish to claim stories of naming of prophets that honor the Merchants view of history.
29There is a different truth in the lines of messengers honored by the Divine.
30How convenient then for some if the Persian view of history is turned into mine.
31The zealot UMAY YAD did claim terrible things of Allah upon the sacrifice of animals
32Allah forbid such practice by the followers of Mithra as inherently evil,
33Yet these devils found a way to cloak themselves as Muslims,
34And infect truth with their lies.
35Sacrifice no living thing on account of Allah,
36But dedicate your life to good.
37Any saying which claims Allah calls for the murder of women and children, or for torture,
38Or for hate, or for ignorance over wisdom,
39Even for superstition over common sense is false.
40Any saying which claims Allah commanded the times for prayer and to pray is false.
41The Divine Creator of all existence does not force himself upon our free will.
42It is for us to choose to honor our Creator of all things.
43Even a bird can be taught to bow down and pray.
44Use the discipline of prayer to remind you of what is important,
45And set your mind clear of negative emotions and distractions.
46You do no honor to yourself nor to Allah in behaving as if the mind of a bird.
47One Earnest session of prayer is ten thousand times more fitting than every prayer as if a trained donkey.
48Allah knows everything that is in your heart and your mind.
49The path of a true Muslim is sometimes difficult.
50Regular prayer with sincerity each day calls a person to be fully immersed in the waters of wisdom of Allah.
51A man who claims to be Muslim can never be fair-weather.
52Any saying which claims a prayer involving a curse is proper and pleasing to Allah is false.
53No prayer that curses is acceptable to the Divine.