Praise is due to Allah who is of Magnificent Favour,
and abundant Goodness.
He stretches forth His Hand at the night so that the one who was wicked in the day can repent,
and He stretches forth His Hand in the day so that the one who was wicked in the night can repent.
He never lets down the one who hopes in Him
And if one depends upon Him, Allah is sufficient for him.
And whoever humbles themselves before His Greatness He raises that person
And if one is too arrogant to follow His command He lowers their standing.
He sent to us the best of creation and the most noble of them to Him
and the one who has the greatest station with Him.
The one with whom He sealed the prophets and messengers
And made him the greatest interceder and the one who intercedes on the Day of Rising.
May Allah send prayers and peace in every moment upon the greatest of creation
The master of Messengers and the seal of Prophets,
as well as on his folk and the pure people of his household
as well as his noble companions who are radiant and blessed
and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Reckoning.
To proceed we have come to one of the arenas of our Lord
and come to one of His Homes.
and we have fulfilled one of His obligations
and we have sat seeking the rain of His Mercy
Allah sent His Prophets and Messengers with sacred laws
so that the needy servants can be ennobled by standing at His Door
and coming to His Step and Refuge.
Everyone who responded to the call has stood at the Door
and the manifestations of the vast Door of Allah are those acts of obedience and praiseworthy works that He legislated through His Prophets.
So every beloved attribute to Allah
and every pious deed that brings one closer to Allah
is a door through which one comes to Allah.
So whoever attaches their heart to obedience to Allah
then this person has stood well at the door of Allah.
If one inclines to heedlessness much less to disobedience then he is turned away from the door of his Lord.
and among the most best of doors or ways to stand at the door of Allah
is through fulfilling the obligations that Allah has placed upon us.
In this regard in the sacred traditions of al Qudsi, Allah says
“My slave does not draw nearer to Me by anything more beloved to Me than the acts which I have made obligatory upon him.
And my servant continues to come nearer to Me through performing voluntary works of worship after fulfilling obligations until I love him.”
A good way to stand at the door of Allah is by having a pure heart and being clean from vices.
And fulfilling ones works in a state of presence and doing them with excellence.
One of the best ways of standing at His Doors is coming and attending gatherings of dhikir and knowledge
out of a desire to be near Him.
It has been narrated in a sahih haddith concerning Rasulullah sallalahualayhiwasalam that he was sitting with his companions when three men approached.
As for one of them he saw a space in the circle/gathering and he entered and sat.
As for a second he was shy and sat behind the people.
As for the third he turned away and left.
When the gathering was concluding he said to his companions shall I not tell you about these three?
The companions said, "of course O Messenger of Allah".
He said:
ammal awwallau faawaah illal Allahi faawah Allahu ilayh
As for the first he took shelter with Allah and Allah gave him shelter.
unthur gimatal wuguf 'inda hathal bab
- Then look at the value of standing at this door.
majlasu ilmi fihi sayyidul ahbab
A gathering of knowledge in which the master of those who are beloved is present!
3adda nabiyunal iwaa ilayhi iwaun illal Allahi ta'ala fi 'ulah
Allah considered giving shelter to the one seeking shelter with Allah or coming in refuge to Allah.
gala faammal thana fastahya minalAllahi fastahya Allahu minhu
He said: As for the second he was shy from Allah so Allah was shy from him.
galu shurahul haddithu man yastahiAllahu minhu lam yu3athhibu
- The commentators of this haddith say, if Allah is shy from someone He will never punish them.
wa ammal thalithu faa3rada anillahi faa3radaAllahu 3anh
As for the third he turned away from Allah and Allah turned away from him.
- Then look at the danger of this when Allah says in the Quran
"As for those who turn away from My remembrance indeed he will live a wretched life and he will be resurrected on the Day of Rising blind."
We ask Allah to grant us the ability to truly turn to Him.
And that there is no time or any instance except that in it you can have an arrival and that in it you can have an entering and that in it you can have acceptance; through varying attributes, deeds and intentions.
To the extent that the knowers of Allah said indeed the path that makes one reach Allah is in accordance to the breaths of creatures.
So in every breath you can arrive.
Because someone who knocks at the door of someone who is generous he will open;
and if the door is open for someone he one will enter;
and if someone enters he will arrive;
and the one who enters will be connected;
and the one who connects will be made to arrive;
and that means arrival at the knowledge of Allah!
And whoever reaches Allah no one can know that which he reaches;
and concerning the magnificence and total generosity that Allah gives him, no one will know this except Allah.
So stand with ihsan, stand with excellence at the door of Allah!
By fulfilling ones obligations-
acts of prayer or zakat, fasting or hajj
or by being truthful in speech
or looking with an eye of reflection
or being kind to parents or maintaining bonds of kinship
or fulfilling ones trusts
or other obligations than this,
all of these are doors to Allah.
And in these be very mindful of the state of your heart.
Because indeed one of the easiest simplest and that which is the most broad doors to Allah is the hearts being humble or broken for Allah.
He says in the sacred tradition
"I am with those broken hearted for My Sake";
and know that there is no one higher than those who work hard and then they are broken for Allah's Sake or humbled for Allah's Sake;
and after them ,who are still near to Allah ta'ala, but not as near as the first are those who fall short but they are still humble for Allah ta'ala;
these people are nearer than those who work hard but they are not humble for Allah's Sake;
and indeed the most distant of Allah's creation are those both who fall short and they are not humble for Allah's Sake.
However the station of those who work hard and then they're broke for Allah's Sake that’s the highest station and no one reaches that but them;
and you find those who are true and have ihsan- excellence in standing at the door of Allah- they have many good acts of obedience and then their hearts are still broken and their hearts will be humbler than those who fall short.
And in the meanings of standing well at the door of Allah;
Rasulullah salallahualayhiwasalam said about Oways Al-Qaarani,
O Umar and O Ali if you meet him and your able then have him seek forgiveness for you and Allah will forgive you.
So meeting the pious and seeking their dua and asking them to seek forgiveness for you from Allah,
this is a door from which one can draw nearer to Allah.
At the end of the khalifat of sayyiduna Umar bin khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, he asked the people of hajj;
“Are there any Yemeni's among you?”
So a group met him and he asked them about the tribe of Muraad, so a group of that tribe met him and then he asked them about the people from Qaran.
So one old man from them met him from among them and Sayyiduna Umar said;
“Do you know Oways bin Amer Al-Qarani?”
He said; “I don’t know anyone who is fitting for us to raise up to you except one man who is weak and deficient and tends to the grazing of camels”.
So Sayyiduna Umar asked him; "Is he in this sacred precinct of ours?"
He said "Yes"
He said "Where is he?"
He said "He's at Arafa tending to our camels"
So Sayyiduna Umar rode with Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both, until they went to him,
They saw him standing praying at a tree and the camels were grazing around him,
So they greeted him with salams and when he sensed they were there he shortened his prayer, finished and returned the salams to them.
So sayyiduna Umar said "Who are you?"
He said "I am Abdullah",
He said "I know all creatures are slaves of Allah, however what is the name that your mother calls you by?"
He said "Oways"
Sayyiduna Umar said "The son of Amer?"
He said "Yes".
Sayyidyna Umar said "From Qaran from Murad"
He said "Yes",
He said "You had a mother and you were good to her?"
He said "Yes",
And he said "And you had a vitiligo and you were healed from it?"
He said "Who are you two that Allah revealed to you my state?"
Sayyiduna Ali replied "As for him, he is Umar the Commander of the faithful and I am Ali bin Abi Talib"
And so Oways was shaken by this and he stood up and greeted them and he said "May Allah reward you on behalf of the nation of Muhammad with good!"
And Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, replied with "And you, may Allah reward you from yourself with good",
He said "How did you know me?"
They said "From Allah's Messenger",
He said "Rasulullah mentioned me!?!"
He said "He mentioned you by your name and your fathers name and your tribe and your state"
And at this news, sayyiduna Oways cried,
He said, "May my father and mother be your ransom O Messenger of Allah!"
He said "And there remains a spot of the vitiligo under your left arm? And you asked Allah to make it remain so you can remember His gift of healing you?"
And he replied "Yes", they said "Show it to us".
And so he showed it to them, they said "Allah's messenger spoke the truth".
Sayyidyna Umar said "You stay here (O Oways) and I’ll come back to you at an appointed time and bring you provision and support".
He said "O commander of the faithful I have these two garments on me, when do you think I'll wear them out? And have 4 silver coins from tending to these camels when do you think I'll spend them?"
He said "O commander of the faithful, before you and I is a difficult ascent, no one will pass over it except those who are light".
So Sayyiduna Umar may Allah be pleased with him, struck the ground with his prop and he spoke of his khalifa saying
"Who would take it from us with that which is in it and for it?! I wish that I had left it in a state nothing for me or against me!"
-Those were the ones who strived and still felt humble! This was sayyiduna Umar! He who said if I sleep by night I'll neglect the rights of my soul and if I sleep by day I’ll neglect the rights of my people; and so he would just sleep when he was overcome and dozed.
So when they sought for him to seek forgiveness for them he said, "Would I seek forgiveness for you?"
They said "Allah's messenger told us to do that".
So look how Rasulullah legislated for us to be humble and broken and seek the prayer of the pious and sayyiduna Umar and sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both, were better than sayyiduna Oways but they still sought his prayer.
So if standing or reaching sayyiduna Oways and seeking Allah’s forgiveness for Allah's sake was a door of the doors of Allah, so what do you think about standing at the door of Allah's best creatures? And your Lord said
"If only when they had wronged themselves they had come to you and sought Allah's forgiveness and the messenger had sought forgiveness for them they would have found Allah Forgiving and Merciful".
fa ma ahsanal wugufu inda babillah!
So how very splendid is standing at the door of Allah.
razagana Allahu husnul wugufu inda babih
May Allah grant to stand well at His Door and to take refuge at His Doorstep.
wainnama ya3rafu thalika bil ilmin nafi3
And that is only known through beneficial knowledge
wamujalasti kuli thi qalbin khashi3
And keeping company of everyone with a submissive heart.
And through that purification is attained from lowly things; and through that one attains virtues.
One who does not sit with those who are broken or humble
they will not know how to have their hearts humble for Allah's sake.
So when sayyiduna Ali was asked about the standing at the mountain on the day of Arafa,
they said “Why did they make the standing near a mountain and not the ka'ba?”
He said “The Ka'ba is Allah's House and the mountain is Allah's Door. So when they came seeking Him He made them stand at His Door.”
He said “al mash3ar al haram which is at muzdalifa it's part of the haram. So then when they stood at His Door and they were prepared to enter upon Him He made them stand at the second passageway and that was at Muzdalifa.
Then when they begged Allah and pray to Him much he told them to go to Menna to slaughter their sacrificial animals so that they may be purified.
Then He gave them permission to enter upon Him to His House after they had been purified.”
Indicating that no one is becoming of being in Allah's presence until they are cleansed purified;
Just as the Quran may not be touched except by those who are purified
The knowledge in it and secrets in it are not allowed except for those who are purified.
So some of the knowers of Allah said whenever I came to one of the doors of Allah I found it crowded with people until I came to the door of poverty and humbleness and I found very few people there and I found it easy to enter.
Are we not offering ourselves to receive Allah's mercy?
Standing at this gathering of ours with what we hear and what we say,
standing at the Door of Allah.
nas2al al rahmana an yaftah lana babah
Asking Al Rahman to open for us His door;
wa yakshif 3an kul galbin hijabah
and to remove from every heart its veil.
O you who gathered us in this mosque give us to be realised in the realities of prostration;
and grant us the prostration of the heart!
That which the one whose hearts prostrates, never raises his head.
There was a man in baghdad who was known as a highway man in the past his name was ibn Huwara.
He heard one night a man saying to his wife;
“Wake me after midnight as I want to go to Al-Musil before dawn so I'm not caught by ibn Huwara.”
When he heard him say this he said;
"Woe to me! I have terrified the Muslims!"
and so repentance descended into his heart.
So at midnight he heard her say;
"Wake up! So you wouldn't be caught by ibn Huwara, wake up!"
and when he heard her he said;
"O Mame! Let your husband sleep for ibn Huwara has repented!"
So he looked around and he found a mosque and he went in.
He purified himself and began to cry in the mosque.
He found in it a group of pious people who gathered every day and remember Allah and discuss knowledge,
he attended with them and listened to their discussion.
On the first day and he was increased in humility and reverent fear and repentance;
and in the second day an third day;
and in the third/fourth day he began to participate with them in speech to the extent that Allah gave him light.
So when he said something good they said, “Who is this new brother we have not met before?”
They said to him "We heard in your speech what indicated a taste and a knowledge"
He said "I am ibn Huwara"
They said "Who!?"
He said "ibn Huwara".
They said "ibn Huwara the highway man??"
He said "Yes",
They said, "What happened to you?"
He said "I returned to Him and stayed at His door and He accepted me."
So they congratulated him on his repentance and they encouraged him in his true return,
And this is how it is O people of faith.
Gif ala bab ma yaglidu yasi3id gali
Stand at the door that one is never driven away from,
bab mawlik li menu hurud il fawayij
the door of your Lord from whom gifts come.
Beneath Your Door I am standing in my humility
So grant me my hopes before my death comes.
From the greatest of doors is true love!
And indeed Muhammad is the one who Allah, the Real, loved most.
And your Lord said
“My Love is guaranteed for those who love for My sake
and those who visit one another for My Sake
and spend for My Sake”
We ask Allah to make us join them,
to give us to drink from their drink,
Ya rabbi ya mawlana iftah lana babak!
O my Lord, O my master open for us Your Door!
Wadkhina fi jumlat ahbabak!
And make us among the group of those whom You love!
Ya fattah iftah lana babak!
O Opener, open for us Your Door!
Wadkhina fi jumlat ahbabak!
And make us for those whom you love!
O Allah make us joyous through truly turning towards you
and grant us acceptance from You,
O Most Merciful of the Merciful!
Ameen!
As taken from: This video here; I've transcribed to the best of my ability the translation that Sheikh Abdul Karim Yahya gives. Truly an amazing talk.
