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The Qasaaid of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani
In his qasaaid (religious poems), Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani Rady Allahu ‘Anhu talks mainly about the spiritual station of being intoxicated with the love of Allah. Nine of his qasaaid are given in Al-Fuyudaat u’r Rabbaniyya (Emanations of Lordly Grace). Of these, Qasida Gawthiyya, his nazm (didactic poem) on the Asma u’l Husna, and his mathnawi perhaps call for more comment.
Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted, says in the Holy Qur’an:
Allah’s are the Most Beautiful Names, so invoke Him by them. (7:180)
In fulfilment of this Command, Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani has invoked Him in both prose and in verse, using the wasila (means) of the Asma Allah u’l Husna. His emphasis in immersing yourself in the Asma Allah u’l Husna until they run through your veins is breathtaking. He has composed a nazm (didactic poem) in which the Asma u’l Husna appear in the same sequence as they do in the Hadith Sharif. His nazm is a laamiyya: all its 63 verses end and rhyme in the letters “laam-alif “. Each verse invokes Allah with one or more of His Names in such a way that the true meanings of these Names of Allah are also conveyed and understood. The opening verses of this nazm are:
Shara’tu bi Tawhidi’l
Ilaahi mubasmilaa
Sa akhtimu bi-dh-dhikri’l
Hamidi Mujammilaa
Wa Ash-hadu Annallaha
laa Rabba Ghayruhu
Tanazzaha ‘an
hasri’l ‘uquli Takammulaa
I begin to expound on monotheism
with the Name of Allah
I will end with the
Praiseworthy and beautiful remembrance of Allah
And I bear witness that
there is no Lord but He
Transcendant is He,
completely beyond human understanding
Next, we come to Qasida Gawthiyya which is universally popular. It is an exposition on some of the spiritual powers that Allah has granted him so that people may be educated about spiritual matters and Muslims may gain confidence in themselves. It is chanted from Rabat to Lahore and from Mombasa to Toronto, that is world-wide. Some of the kutub (books) which contain this qasida are:
- Hadaaiqi Bakhshish (The Gardens of Gifts), with a poetic translation
in Urdu by Imam Ahmad Raza Khan, Rahmatullahi ‘alayh.
- Al-Fuyudaat u’r
Rabbaniyya (Emanations of Lordly Grace), translated by Shaykh Muhtar
Holland.
- ‘Abdul
Qadir Fee Iydaah-it-Tasawwuf (Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir in Clarifying
the Subject of Spiritual
Culture), of Nur-ud-Din ibn ash-Shaykh Husayn Mahmud al-Ghasani.
- Majmu’ah
Mushtamila (A Compendium of Writings), of Shaykh ‘Abdur
Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Qadiri az-Zayla’i, Rahmatullahi ‘alayh
of Somalia.
- Majmu’ah
Wazaaif (A Compendium of Regular Voluntary Invocations), compiled by
Women Islamic Mission, Karachi, with an Urdu translation.
- Majmu’ah
Wazaaif, compiled by Qari Ridaa al-Mustafa A’zami, with an Urdu
translation.
- Qadiri Ridwi Majmu’ah
Wazaaif (A Compendium of Regular Voluntary Invocations of the Qadiriyya),
compiled by Iqbal Ahmad Nuri and Anis Ahmad Nuri, with an Urdu translation by
‘Allamah Shams Brelwi.
- Khatam Sharif Sarwari Gawthi Qadiri (The Completion of the Noble Zikr Among The Sarwari Qadiriyya).
There are various refrains or congregational responses when this qasida is recited. A popular response in Arabic is:
Mawaali yaa mawaali yaa
mawaali
Wa Muhyiddin-i Sultan
ur rijaali
O freedmen emancipated from
(the) slavery (of your passions)
The reviver of the faith
(Shaykh Jilani) is the Sultan of men
A well-known refrain in Urdu is:
As-salaam ay Nur-e chashmay
Anbiya
As-salaam ay Baadshah-e Awliya
Salaams
to you, O fountain of the lights of the Prophets
Salaams to you, O Sultan
of the saints
One of the qasaaid of Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani is a mathnawi. A mathnawi is a poem in which the two hemistich (half verses) of a verse rhyme, and the rhyme keeps on changing from one verse to the next. Shaykh ‘Abdul Ghani Nabulsi Rahmatullahi ‘alayh (1641-1731 C.E) has composed a takhmis of this qasida. A takhmis is the augmentation of a couplet to a quintent, in other words the quintification of a couplet!
So far, we have talked about his qasaaid from Al-Fuyudaat ur Rabbaniyya which are very popular. Now we come to an appreciation of much shorter pieces of a few verses each from Qalaid al-Jawahir (Necklaces of Gems).
It is a tradition among the mashaayikh (spiritual masters) to explain about matters pertaining to the religion of Islam in both prose and poetry. For example, when Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani Rady Allahu ‘Anh was asked to explain the meaning of the word faqir (poor, needy before Allah), he said that the word faqir is formed with four letters, “faa”, “qaaf “, “yaa”, and “raa”, as cited in Qalaid al Jawahir (Necklaces of Gems). Then he explained the significance of each of these letters in four verses to convey the meaning and the essence of the word faqir.
faa-u’l faqiri
fanaa-u-hu fee Dhaatihi
wa faraaghu-hu
min na’tihi wa sifaatih
wa’l
qaafu quwwatu qalbihi bi-Habibihi
wa qiyaamuhu
Lillahi fee Mardaatih
wa’l
yaayu yarju bihi wa yakhaafuhu
wa yaqumu bi’t
taqwa bi-haqqi tuqaatih
wa’r
raa’u riqqatu qalbihi wa safaauhu
wa ruju’uhu
‘an shahawaatih
The letter faa in
the word faqir stands for his annihilation for the sake of Allah
and getting rid of his
own description and attributes
The qaaf stands for
the strength of his heart that is with his Beloved Allah
and his standing up
for the sake of Allah is purely for His Good Pleasure
The yaa stands for
his hope in Him and his reverential awe of Him
and he performs his
duty as true devotion demands
The raa stands for
the softness of his heart and its purity
and its return to Allah
from its carnal desires.
Allahu Akbar!
We notice that when he talks about the letter “faa”, the Shaykh uses two words that begin with the letter “faa”. These are fanaa and faraagh. Similarly, when he comes to the letter “qaaf”, he uses three words – quwwah, qalb and qiyaam – that begin with the letter “qaaf” . The words associated with the letter “yaa” are yarju, yakhaafu and yaqumu while those that go with the letter “raa” are riqqah and ruju’. Shaykh ‘Abdul Qadir Jilani Rady Allahu ‘Anhu was for sure not only a master of the religion of Islam but a master of the Arabic language as well.
Yaa Hayyu Yaa Hayyu Yaa
Qayyum
Yaa Hayyu Yaa
Hayyu Yaa Qayyum