October 2016 Message

Beloved Family,

Just returned from a wonderful time with our Colorado family up in the mountains at around 8000 ft. with the Aspens turning their fall colors. Tomorrow I am off to the Maui Sufi Camp.

I would like us to continue the wazifa practice from last month another week through Wednesday October 12, the last day of the 10 Days of Tshuva (turning) (Awe), known as Yom Kippur, to which YA HASIB YA TAWWAB apply. Then you can switch to the new practice below,

Our fundraising for the Murshid Sam Dargah Project is going very well. We have raised nearly $700,000 and need another $200,000 to complete the project. We estimate completion in July 2017; just around the corner. The campaign of funding 300 people to pledge $1000 over three years is still very much alive, and we’re hoping many of you can jump in.

In November we have our annual Murshid(a)s Circle Retreat followed by the Jamiat Khas Leaders Retreat and in face Board of Trustees meeting. Tamam and I will return to Seattle for a Sufi Retreat in the beginning of December.

For our next text I would like us to study the 87 letters we transcribed from Hazrat Inayat Khan to his first mureed in the West, and who later became his first Murshida, Rabia Martin. At the back of the text is an article by Murshid Wali Ali describing the spiritual milieu in California at the time of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s visits. These letters are really the way Murshida Rabia Martin was trained and give us an intimate feeling for the relationship of Murshid and mureed.

Sending fall blessings,

Shabda

Wazifa Practice

Recite 101x YA WAHHAB ~ YA RAZZAQ ~ YA FATTAH

16. Ya Wahhab (yaa wah-HAAB)

Al-Wahhab gives divine blessings continually and universally. It is a flow that is without disruption and which is freely given without any expectation of return. It is the one who constantly refreshes. There is no restraint based on scarcity, as its source is super-abundant. A form from the same root, mawhibah, is a cloud that rains freely on everything. Another form, mawhoob, is a child or any blessing given to you by God.

By invoking Ya Wahhab you become identified with a stream flowing continuously from the divine source, and everything you need in life is already fully present and flowing in that stream. It is closely related to Ya Razzaq (17) and Ya Fattah (18). In the sound code of the Arabic language, all three share a form that conveys continuous activity.

There is a developmental aspect in considering these three Names together. Al-Wahhab is the free rain that is given to all. Ar-Razzaq is the water that flows into irrigation ditches. Al-Fattah is all the fruit you harvest from all the trees you've irrigated. In other words, Al-Wahhab is a free gift; ar-Razzaq offers the means for achieving abundance; al-Fattah is the continuing action of all that will be accomplished.

See Chapters 16, 18, and 19 on the emanations of divine abundance and Chapter 4, The Sound Code.

17. Ya Razzaq (yaa raz-ZAAḲ)

Ar-Razzaq is the one who continuously provides the means for each of us to get what we need for our daily sustenance, our bread and butter. The noun rizq, formed from its root, means a gift of blessing from which all can benefit. The adage “The bounty of the dates can be seen at the bottom of the well” illustrates the meaning of ar-Razzaq. If you make use of the water of the well and draw it up and irrigate your palm trees every day, you will get the dates.

There are endless opportunities to benefit from the divine gifts that are offered by ar-Razzaq, and endless ways to make them available to others. Ar-Razzaq is also seen in a person’s openness to receive divine provenance. The word al-arzaaq means “endless gifts.” The truly endless gifts are the gifts of rahma: compassion, mercy, and love. The one who always gives these gifts has an infinite supply in treasure houses of infinite love. See Ya Wahhab (16) and Ya Fattah (18). See also Chapters 16, 18, and 19 on the emanations of divine abundance.

18. Ya Fattah (yaa fat-TAAḤ)

Al-Fattah means both to begin and to open. Through it you begin to open your heart to the infinite possibilities of the divine presence. With al-Fattah, the opening is continuous. It is an enlightenment that keeps happening. Al-Fattah brings great power to clear the way of obstacles and open the path of your life for success. It is the one who opens the heart to love and ecstasy.

Al-Fattah means to open something with something else, a key. It is the key to opening the heart to Allah, the key to finding the God within. Reciting Ya Fattah is a very powerful practice because, even in the midst of despair, it brings the possibility of awakening to love and ecstasy. Its activity in us is opening up the veils of darkness over the heart to uncover the light within. Al-Fattah is the continuous action of all that will be accomplished. Invocation of Ya Fattah sets up the dynamic of going deeper and deeper in the process of opening. See Ya Wahhab (16) and Ya Razzaq (17). See also Chapters 16, 18, and 19 on divine abundance.

To hear the pronunciation: Ya Wahhab ~ Ya Razzaq ~ Ya Fattah

TEXT and COMMENTARY to STUDY

This month we begin reading Yours in the Infinite, a series of letters from Hazrat Inayat Khan to Murshida Rabia Martin. Read the forward and begin the letters, pages 1-16. Click here to download the document.

Colorado Sufi Retreat:

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