Salawat - The Poem of Muhammad ﷺ [Qasida Muhammadiyya]

[best heard with headphones]

In honor of the birth of the Beloved of God, our liege lord and master, the master of the Prophets and Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ, whose soul descended into this world in the month of Rabī‘ al-awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar, at the break of dawn. His very emergence had cast away the darkness of night, and in this is a great sign and symbol. The name Rabī‘ al-awwal means "the first month or beginning of spring", which symbolizes birth and life. Indeed, his birth brought life to this world. May God bless him forever, and his entire lineage, near and far, of his righteous descendants and ancestors, and his parents and his children.

Abu Qatadah reported, The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about fasting on Mondays. He said, "That is the day on which I was born and the day on which I received Revelation".

Anas ibn Malik reported, The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When you pass by the meadows of Paradise, graze as you like.” They said, “What are the meadows of Paradise?” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Circles of remembrance.”

Upon seeing a circle of Companions sitting in the masjid, the Prophet ﷺ approached them and asked them for what purpose they gather. They responded, "We are sitting here in order to remember Allah and to praise Him guiding us to the path of Islam and for sending you to us."

The Qasida Muhammadiyya is an ode praising the august qualities of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Allah bless and grant him peace. The ode was written by Imam Sharaf al-Din al-Busiri, Allah sanctify his secret, famous for his "Ode of the Mantle", Qasida al-Burda.

Celebrating the birth of the best of creation is incumbent on all nations, verily the name "Muhammad" means the "praised one", and he is by the command of God praised everyday in every corner of the Earth without cessation. That is the ghayrah of Allah that encompasses his beloved ones. Just as all of creation was commanded by God to kneel to Adam ع, just as all nations were commanded to show obeisance to their Prophets and Messengers, all of creation is commanded to kneel before Muhammad ﷺ. The Light of God emanates from the hearts of these beloved ones, the light that attracts to it angels, who circumambulate around it for they its reality. It was to invite to this light that the Prophets and Messengers were sent to man so that they too become illuminant.

A sign of God is that which when apprehended makes one aware of the nearness of God. More than all else, beyond the turbulence of a dying world, the heart yearns for God, for eternal life in the final abode. And so, when a sign of God is apprehended, at once the heart is enamored and the eyes flow with tears. There is an ancient nostalgia, subtle yet overwhelming, that for a moment is embraced within the memory of the heart as its yearning is met with the Beloved. The highest signs of God are those that alight the heart for they remind the heart, in the most intimate and direct way, of God who through His signs declares His transcendent nearness and immanence. A paradox that only the heart of Being may apprehend.

And the highest sign of God is none other than His Beloved and Chosen One, our Messenger Muhammad ﷺ. He unites within himself all of the names of God, who through his very countenance awakens the heart of man to see the Divine Light of God, where all darkness and pollution within our Being is effaced. These are the gnostic fruits that grow within the heart whenever the heart is connected to Rasulallah ﷺ. Ours is the lone spiritual tradition left in the world, no other community has an unbroken, verifiable, intact chain to a Prophet or Messenger, no less to Rasulallah ﷺ, whether textually or personally or spiritually. It is incumbent upon all to take hold of the rope of God, which is none other than this golden chain.

There is the metaphysical principle, that fundamental law of reality, "you are with the one you love", for the one that you love resides in the heart, defining its very nature. When you love Rasulallah ﷺ, then the heart becomes Muhammadiyyun, that is, it is consumed in the Muhammadan Light, a reality known only to the gnostics. That is the inner reality of the sunnah of the Chosen One ﷺ, the one most pleasing to God, most beloved to God. This is to be with Rasulallah ﷺ, and when one is with Rasulallah ﷺ, then one is - by the ghayrah of Allah - with Allah, and none has greater ghayrah than Allah. There is no provision better than having received love for the Chosen One of God, Rasulallah ﷺ. Even as one's prayers are deficient, and even as one's deeds are little and one's sins many, this provision will last you on your long journey.

There is nothing worthy of worship [god] other than Allah [God], and Muhammad ﷺ is his [beloved] Messenger. This is a statement of love, and it is thus why our path is said to be the path of love.

I also do this in my father's name, my Allah shower him in mercy.