20 Ramadan 1431

From Ramadan

A memory, like a ghost,
passes through—
a pool of cool air!
In reply to being spooked,
a little shout
flutters out.
Who goes there?
Whose memory
do I descry?
What word was spoken,
half heard?
Whose blurred call: All or nothing at all?
Just a passing thought,
a cipher, naught,
in a night that looms
larger than a thousand nights,
a night of spirits’ flight.

19 Ramadan 1431

These days are called "ayyAm al-Darbah," the days of the hit, the blow (of the sword), against Imam `Ali (`a).
Everything is black. It was during the fajr prayer that the attack was carried out, before dawn.
Out of the darkness came a poisoned sword. They say the assailant paid a thousand dirhams for the sword and another thousand to have it impregnated with poison. There are many stories about the attack and its motivation. They come to us out of the darkness of history. The assassin was Ibn Muljam, a Kharajite. It is said that he plotted with others. There is also a story that a woman who hated Imam `Ali because some of her relatives had fallen in battle with him asked Ibn Muljam to kill Ali as a part of her bride price when he proposed to her. He was caught immediately after the attack. It is said that when he was brought to Ali, the Imam ordered the ropes with which he had been bound to be loosened. Ali advised his sons not to seek revenge, but to carry out the execution of the murderer if he, Ali, should die, swiftly and by a single stroke. He forbade the dismembering of the corpse of the murderer, saying that the Prophet had said that even a rabid dog should not be dismembered. This is in Nahj al-Balagha. Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi elaborates on the story to get to its more general point, imagining Imam `Ali (`a) to have said: Take care not to kill him with cruelty or torture, for I once heard your grandfather Muhammad (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) say: "Do not kill even a rabid dog with torture and pain." It is also reported that when he was given milk, Ali ordered that half of it be offered to Ibn Muljam because of his hunger.
What is the point? We should not let gut reactions, inclinations, anger, and such take over. Even when faced with the most horrible crimes, and even if the punishments for those crimes are to be carried out, `Ali (`a) advises his son (in Letter 23 of Nahj al-Balagha):
If I forgive, it is a means of nearness (to Allah) for me, and for you a good deed. Therefore, do forgive! What? Would you not love God to forgive you?
Here is an example for us in Ramadan, as we try to learn to control ourselves so that we may direct our own actions toward what is best.
These are days and nights in which prayers are answered. Last night was the first of the three nights that might be considered Laylat ul-Qadr, the night of great worth, which might also be called the night of destiny, the night in which the future is measured out by divine decree. So, last night I prayed for family members, friends, colleagues, correspondents, as many as I could by name, and others generally, those suffering from flood, earthquake, and other natural disasters, and for all those made miserable by the human institutions, such as war and poverty, and other forms of corruption, that humanity has not been able to tame.

18 Ramadan 1431

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,
If your cup is full may it be again,
Let it be known there is a fountain,
That was not made by the hands of men.

The author of these words may not have known that the name of the fountain is Kawthar,
or the significance of Kawthar as Zahra (`a), the spring from which flows the imamate.
Tonight will be the first night of qadr, the night of great worth. We will attend this night with empty cups,
seeking to fill them with blessings.
There are many poems, stories, historical events, and personal memories that seem to have no objective connection to the path to Allah,
yet they become meaningful when understood as signs on the way.
One of my favorites is Heinrich Heine's Lorelei. The poet tells of his sadness and how an old story runs through his mind
of a girl on the top of a cliff, singing and combing her golden hair, and the young man who crashes his boat on the rocks below the cliff
because of distraction. Heine might not have known that the beauty is a symbol for divinity, the Beloved,
and that the lover must drown in order to be united with the Beloved,
as the self must be annihilated in divinity to be perfected.
The night of qadr, laylat ul-qadr, is usually translated as "the night of power",
but I don't think this has the right connotations. Qadr means measure and worth, too.
This night is one of such great worth, one who's measure is so great, that in it the Qur'an could be revealed in a moment.
We come to this night with our empty cups with hands reaching out and crying for our cups to be filled.
O Saki!

Hey, here Winebringer, circulate, offer the cup this way;
For love at first seemed easy, now problems come to stay.

Finally breeze sent muskpod's scent from that forehead:
Its twist Of musky hair makes blood clot our hearts today.

Can wayfarers stay happy and secure in Beloved's house,
When suddenly the bell clangs to: "Lift your load! Away!"

With wine dye your prayer-mat if the Master commands;
This experienced traveller has understanding of the way.

The dark night and terrifying wave and fierce whirlpool:
Do those light of burden on shore know where we stay?

By acting upon my own desires I ruined my reputation:
Can the secret stay that way when crowds tell it all day?

Hafiz, if you desire the Divine Presence, do not be absent:
When you visit your Beloved: "Farewell" to the world say.

---

Translator:

Smith, P. (1986). Divan of Hafiz. Melbourne: New Humanity Books.

For translations of Hafiz by Paul Smith contact the author.

17 Ramadan 1431

Last night, I polished off two bottles

of pure water,

but my hands were scented,

with white ginger

from a lotion

that I picked up

years ago

at a hotel

in Malaysia.

It is hot, and water relieves the heat. One of the acts of worship recommended on various nights of Ramadan is ghusl. In practice under the circumstances, this means taking a shower and letting the water flow over one's head, right side and left side in sequence. Showers in Iran are tiled rooms. I like the water to be cool.

We fast, and Imam Reza (`a) tells us that by fasting we should feel the pain of those who are hungry and thirsty. As I dry off from the shower at night and sip more cold water, I recall how many people don't have access to clean water.

Here is a map of projected water scarcity for 2025.

Here is another.

According to UN statistics, about 700 million people in 43 countries are under "water stress" and suffer from water shortages. About one-sixth of the global population does not have access to clear drinking water, and one-third to basic sanitation.

The number of refugees from the world's dry regions, according to UN statistics, surpassed the number of displaced persons fleeing from armed conflict in 2009.

As we drink water in the nights and bathe ourselves, let's remember the 700 million under water stress in our prayers.

16 Ramadan 1431

There is a calmness that can come with fasting. It is Friday; I'm home today. It is quiet.
Yesterday was Imam Hasan's birthday. I pray that I can benefit from his guidance and in the stillness of the fast today, to let God draw me to Himself.

So, how was Imam Hasan (`a) drawn to his Lord? Through suffering.
Throughout his life he suffered treachery and disloyalty. He was attacked by people who accused him of having become an idolater, and he was poisoned by a wife who was bribed to do so by his enemy. Throughout everything that happened to him, Imam Hasan (`a) maintained patience and sought to increase justice while avoiding bloodshed. When he was dying he predicted that his funeral procession would be confronted by hostile forces, and he urged his brother, Husayn (`a) to let no blood be spilled. It transpired as he had predicted, and heeding Hasan's request, Husayn was able to prevent any bloodshed so that Hasan's body passed by the grave of his grandfather, Muhammad (s) and was buried in Baqi cemetery nest to his mother Fatimah (`a).

From Ramadan

1. Fatimah bint Muhammad

2. Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib

3. Zain Abideen ibn Hussain ibn Ali

4. Muhammad Baaqir ibn Zainul Abideen

5. Jafar as-Sadiq ibn Muhammad Baaqir

6. Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib

15 Ramadan 1431

Some of the most moving prayers are the munajat of Imam Sajjad (`a ). One of them was read on TV this morning while I shared a meal with my family prior to the day's fast. It is called "The Whispered Prayer of the Complainers" (Munajat al-Shakiyyin), and is superbly translated by Wm. Chittick (may God bless him abundantly). Chittick calls the munajat "whispered prayers", which gives something of the feeling of the intimacy assumed between the supplicant and God. In these prayers the supplicant holds nothing back and cries out (or whispers?) from the depths of his soul his needs and longings.

The Whispered Prayer of the Complainers

---

In the Name of God, the All-merciful,
the All-compassionate

1	My God, to Thee I complain of a soul commanding to evil,308 rushing to offenses, eager to disobey Thee, and exposing itself to Thy anger. It takes me on the roads of disasters, it makes me the easiest of perishers before Thee; many its pretexts, drawn out its expectations; when evil touches it, it is anxious, when good touches it, grudging;309 inclining to sport and diversion, full of heedlessness and inattention, it hurries me to misdeeds and makes me delay repentance.
2	My God, I complain to Thee of an enemy who misguides me and a satan who leads me astray. He has filled my breast with tempting thoughts, and his suggestions have encompassed my heart. He supports caprice against me, embellishes for me the love of this world, and separates me from obedience and proximity!
3	My God, to Thee I complain of a heart that is hard, turned this way and that by tempting thoughts, clothed in rust and the seal,310 and of an eye too indifferent to weep in fear of Thee and eagerly seeking that which gladdens it!
4	My God, there is no force and no strength except in Thy power, and no deliverance for me from the detested things of this world save through Thy preservation. So I ask Thee by Thy far-reaching wisdom and Thy penetrating will not to let me expose myself to other than Thy munificence and not to turn me into a target for trials! Be for me a helper against enemies, a coverer of shameful things and faults, a protector against afflictions, a preserver against acts of disobedience! By Thy clemency and mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful!

14 Ramadan 1431

Fasting used to have a prominent place in Christian spirituality. In a book about the Desert Fathers, it is written:

An old man was asked, ‘‘How can I find God?’’ He said, ‘‘In

fasting, in watching, in labours, in devotion, and, above all,

in discernment. I tell you, many have injured their bodies

without discernment and have gone away from us having

achieved nothing. Our mouths smell bad through fasting, we

know the Scriptures by heart, we recite all the Psalms of David,

but we have not that which God seeks: charity and humility.’’

(Ward, B. (ed.), The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian

Monks. London/New York: Penguin Books, 2003., number 90)

Someone asked an old man, ‘‘What is humility?’’ He replied,

‘‘Humility is a great and divine work. The road leading to

humility is through bodily labours, and considering oneself a

sinner, inferior to all.’’ Then the brother said, ‘‘What does that

mean, ‘inferior to all’?’’ The old man said, ‘‘It is this: not paying

attention to others’ sins, but always to one’s own, praying to

God ceaselessly. (Ward, number 166)

Although Protestants are considered less ascetic than Catholics and Orthodox Christians, fasting played an important part in Pietist spirituality, which stemmed from the Lutheran tradition.

The fundamental framework for Wesleyan spirituality (expressed in a

tract called the Large Minutes) had five elements: prayer both

personal and collective, scriptural reading and meditation,

frequent Communion, fasting on Fridays, and spiritual conversation.

The Oxford or Tractarian Movement of Anglo-Catholicism also emphasized fasting.

Today, I personally know of a number of Mennonites who fast at least for a few days of Ramadan, and on other occasions, often in solidarity with those suffering from war and oppression.

May Allah let our fasting bring us humility, ceaseless remembrance of God, and compassion and solidarity with all those who suffer from the ravages of war, persecution, and other miseries.