JZAK ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Hind Rifai Date: Dec 29, 2005 5:36 AM
Salaam all, Nafari's book - "Mawaqef wa Mukhatabat"- "Considerations and dialogs" is a unique contribution in the history of Tawheed- The origins of the book and its author remain somewhat mysterious. It was probably written in the first half of the 4th Hijra century in Syria- The author is most likely Muhammad ibn Abd- Allah Nafari, although the book has been attributed traditionally to his grandson Abd al-Jabbar- Multiple interpretations and elucidations of this book have been written over the centuries, Ibn Arabi himself referred to the book 6 times in his "Meccan Revelations". The 20th century has witnessed a renewed interest in the book on the part of Arab literary figures like the Syrian Poet and Nobel Prize nominee Adonis- In the late 1930's, Arthur J. Arberry facilitated the book's reissue in Arabic and wrote an English introduction for it. In a restrained but passionate language, Nafari approaches the subject of Tawheed from different viewpoints through imaginary dialogs, between the worshiper and the Creator, that are most often based on Qur'anic concepts and Ahadith- Hind. In the following excerpt, the sea is an allegory for life in this world- -------------------------------------------------- Consider the sea He stopped me to consider the sea: I saw the vessels sink and the planks stay afloat; eventually, the planks did also sink. He said to me: "He who rides [a vessel] is not safe. He who throws himself [in the sea] and does not ride [a vessel] is taking a risk. He who rides [a vessel] and does not take a risk will reach perdition." He said to me: " A part of salvation is the taking of risk. The waves come, lift what lies underneath them and spread it and themselves leisurely on the shore." He said to me: " The surface of the sea is Luminosity, the source of which cannot be reached; the bottom of the sea is Darkness, indomitable. Between luminosity and darkness live the beasts of the sea that cannot be trusted/ with whom there is no safety." He said to me: " Do not ride [a vessel] in the sea, I would then veil you from Me through the instrument [the vessel]; and do not throw yourself in the sea, I would then veil you from Me through the sea itself." He said to me: " In the sea are barriers any of which can limit/confine you." He said to me: "If you give yourself to the sea and drown in it, then you are nothing but another one of the beasts of the sea". He said to me: " I would be cheating you, if I were ever to direct you/show you evidence for other than me." He said to me: "If you die/ reach perdition in the pursuit of other than me, you will be delivered to what you died/reached perdition for." He said to me: "This world (al-Dunya) belongs to the one whom I distracted from it; the afterworld (al-Akhira) belongs to the one I approached through it and brought him to Myself. ------------------------------------- From the original Arabic by Aicha Hind Rifai – with the grace of Allah- ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
