Purification of the Heart Through the Remembrance of Allah

Address by Huzoor Wala Shan Pir Sahib (May Allah have mercy upon him)

Date: 1 February 1986

Address No. 42

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

فَنِعۡمَ الۡمَوۡلٰی وَ نِعۡمَ النَّصِیۡرُ

رَبِِّ اشۡرَحۡ لِیۡ صَدۡرِیۡ وَیَسِّرۡ لِیۡۤ اَمۡرِیۡ وَ احۡلُلۡ عُقۡدَۃً مِّنۡ لِّسَانِیۡ یَفۡقَہُوۡاقَوۡلِیۡ

اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِ عَلٰی سَیّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍوَّعَلٰی اٰلِ سَیِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍوَّعَلٰی اَصْحَابِہٖ وَعَلٰی اَذْوَاجِہٖ اَجْمَعِیْنَ وَبَارِکْ وَسَلِمْ وَصَلِ عَلَیْہٖ

All praise is for Allah.

Countless thanks to Allah Almighty, the Master of the Kingdom, Who has once again granted us the opportunity and ability to gather here for His pleasure, in His remembrance and in His love. Millions and billions of blessings and peace be upon the Leader of the Prophets, the Beloved of Allah, Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (PBUH), through whose blessed intercession this grace has been bestowed upon us.

Respected listeners! Before we begin reciting the sacred awraad, it is necessary to understand one or two things. The most important thing is that you must have a deep appreciation of its importance in your hearts, so that you may benefit fully from this blessing of Allah.

If a person does not recognize the importance and sanctity of this blessed gathering in his heart, then sitting in it certainly brings some benefit, but one cannot fully receive its spiritual blessings and benefits.

According to my faith and conviction, this is a gathering that purifies the heart, pleases Allah Almighty, cleanses the heart, and establishes a connection with the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In this way, it enables the Divine light that exists within the blessed heart of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to become established within the heart of a believer.

Imam al-Ghazali (May Allah have mercy upon him) has written that Allah created the human heart in such a way that its face is always turned towards the Preserved Tablet (Lauh al-Mahfuz). When the heart is pure, it becomes like a mirror, and the various manifestations and realities contained in the Preserved Tablet are reflected upon it. In this way, the heart becomes a treasure of the light of wisdom.

However, because of sins and mistakes, the heart becomes rusty, and its luminosity disappears. Then the impurities of the worldly life find a place within it, even though Allah created the human heart for Himself.

There is a Hadith Qudsi in which Allah Almighty says that neither the heavens nor the earth can contain Him, but the heart of a believer can contain Him. The light of Allah can enter the heart only when that heart is purified for such a sacred Guest through pure remembrance.

This is why it is mentioned in the blessed Hadith that one should continually pray for the renewal of faith.

Because of the influence of the lower self (nafs) and Satan, the world possesses such a powerful attraction that a person becomes heedless and spiritually dead. The remembrance of Allah and supplication before Him are the means through which such a heart is revived and cleansed.

Maulana Rumi (May Allah have mercy upon him) narrated a beautiful example.

Two painters once came to the King of Rome and claimed mastery in the art of painting. The king ordered his minister to take them to a room, give one wall to one painter and the other wall to the second painter, and provide them with all the materials they required. However, he ordered that a partition be placed between them so that neither painter could see the other’s method of painting.

Everything was arranged accordingly.

One painter requested all kinds of materials, while the other requested nothing at all.

The painter who had asked for all the materials eventually informed the king that he had completed his painting. The other painter was also asked whether his work was complete, and he replied that it was.

The king went to inspect their work. The partition was removed and the doors were opened. Everyone was astonished to see that whatever had been painted on one wall was also appearing on the other wall.

The painter who had used no materials was asked:

“This man created his picture using all kinds of materials. How did you produce an identical picture without using anything?”

He replied:

“He is an expert in creating paintings, whereas I am an expert in cleaning. He continued creating his picture, while I continued cleaning my wall until it became as clear as a mirror. Whatever he painted was then reflected in it.”

The purpose of this example is to explain that this gathering is meant to cleanse the heart through the remembrance of Allah Almighty. The purification of the heart can only be achieved through the remembrance of Allah.

When the heart becomes pure, it develops a connection with the blessed heart of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). In this way, that heart becomes a center of Divine lights and manifestations, in which there remains nothing except the love of Allah and the love of His Messenger (PBUH).

The result is that such a heart becomes a treasure of peace and tranquility. It becomes purified from the impurities of the world and is presented before Allah in the Hereafter. Such a person becomes successful and honored in this world and will also be successful and honored in the Hereafter.

This is why Allah Almighty says:

قَدْ اَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكّٰىهَا ۝ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسّٰـىهَا ۝

(Surah Ash-Shams, 91:9–10)

Indeed, successful is the one who purifies it, and indeed ruined is the one who corrupts it.

When a person becomes purified through the remembrance of Allah, the universe and everything within it becomes subservient to him. But if he pays no attention to this path, his heart becomes covered with the dust of heedlessness, because it becomes filled with the love of those things that can neither benefit him in this world nor in the Hereafter.

History bears witness that people who spent their lives heedlessly absorbed in the love of their children sometimes found that their children, after taking every possible benefit from them, turned against their own parents. This is such a great failure and regret that no other loss can equal it. Or those very children may themselves fail in this world, causing all the parents’ efforts and sacrifices to become futile.

Keep one thing firmly in mind: those who sacrifice the love of the world for the sake of Allah are not deprived of the world. Rather, they reject the world when necessary, and Allah causes the world to fall at their feet.

But those who neglect the remembrance of Allah for the sake of the world find that the world runs ahead of them while they continue running after it.

A servant of Allah benefits from the world like a master, whereas a servant of the world benefits from it like a thief.

We thank Allah that He has granted us the ability to remember Him—a remembrance in which, for a time, we become heedless of everything else and turn our attention completely towards Allah Almighty.

Let us ask Him for His love and servitude, because all blessings, whether religious or worldly, are under the command and ownership of the Master.

Let us begin with the thought and prayer that Allah Almighty may always grant us the ability to remember Him in this manner.

May He give the love of His remembrance precedence in our hearts over every other thing and every other love. Through the blessing of this gathering, may Allah Almighty illuminate our hearts with His Divine Light and grant us the servitude of Himself and of His beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Now let us begin.

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

Awraad-e-Naziriyyah Sharif were recited, followed by supplication.