Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) reflects upon the meaning of being with Allah and His Messenger ﷺ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A person is with the one they love.”
You can gauge your love for Allah and His Messenger by gauging how much you are with them.
The Prophet ﷺ was in the highest state of being with his Lord. For that reason he said:
“I am nothing but a slave. I eat as a slave eats and I sit as a slave sits.”
Sayyiduna Ibrahim says in the Qur’an that it is his Lord: “It is He Who created me and it is He who guides me; Who gives me food and drink.” [26:78-9]
He was constantly with Allah, even when he ate and drank. One of the knowers of Allah said:
“For twenty years people think I have been speaking to them, when in reality I have been speaking to Allah.” If you speak for His sake, in accordance with His Sacred Law and your heart is present with Him, then in reality you are speaking to Him.
The Companions and the pious people of this Ummah were constantly with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in all their states.
One of the Companions repeated three times, addressing the Prophet ﷺ:
“I love Allah and His Messenger!”
He replied ﷺ on each occasion:
“You are with the one you love.”
Sayyiduna Abu’l-`Abbas al-Mursi said: “If the Prophet ﷺ was absent from me for an instant, I would not consider myself a Muslim.”
Habib `Umar bin `Abd al-Rahman al-`Attas asked: “How can he be absent from us when he is the source of our existence?” In other words, without him, we do not exist.
Imam al-Haddad said:
و لي من رسولِ اللهِ جَدِّي عِنَايَةٌ
و وَجْهٌ و إِمْدَادٌ و إِرْثٌ و إِيثَارُ
‘I receive from my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, care, status, assistance, inheritance and preferential treatment.’
These people reached the highest stations of being with the Beloved ﷺ .
So do not claim to love him and then depart from him. Are you with him in emulating his character? If you truly loved him you would be with him. Do you think being with him is only in the next life? That which will be manifest in the next life is only that which is stored up in this life. If you want to be with him there, be certain that you have to be with him here.
How long have you been with your lower self (nafs)? It calls you to base things while Allah and His Messenger call you to lofty things. Your lower self calls you to the Fire, while they call you to Paradise. Being with Allah and His Messenger is better than being with your lower self. Your lower self is the thing that cuts you off most from being with Allah and His Messenger and it is the biggest veil between you and your Lord.
Some people reach high stations in closeness to the Beloved ﷺ before the month of Rabi is over. If you are not going to attain it in this month, then when?
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Extracts from a lesson in Ihya `Ulum al-Din in Dar al-Mustafa, Tarim, on 9th Rabi` al-Awwal 1436 /31st December 2014.