BismiLlah wa Salatu wa Salamu ‘ala RasuliLlah.
Dear Sadati, Eid Mubarak to all Fuqara and Friends.
AlhamduliLlah, Ramadan has come to an end. For all who stood in prayer and sat in invocation and especially those who entered more deeply into Retreat, may God Bless you and Accept your prayers. Ameen.
In celebrating Eid al-Fitr, we break from the blessed openings received through our fast and worship in Ramadan. This ‘celebrated break’ (Eid al-Fitr) has great significance for the spiritual life. Such a break from the whole of the month of Ramadan is quite similar to the break of the fast we practiced every night in Ramadan. Such a break is meant to be a sacred transition. A transition from spiritual emptying to that of a sacred filling. In these moments of Eid, let us take a moment to reflect on all the blessings received in Ramadan. During this ‘break’ or sacred transition, let us take a moment to reflect on our moment (waqt) with God.
Such a sacred break in the Name of God is necessary to appreciate that the form of abidance attained in our spiritual practice is admittedly not sustainable as it was in Ramadan. It is necessary to break from such grace in order to know full well where it came from, and to appreciate a renewed sense of grace that fills and has always filled all our moments. One of the great spiritual lessons is an awareness of how much we do not appreciate our God-given life: our moments with our loved ones and our moments with ourselves. Let this break procure a renewed sense of living the Sacred: appreciating a renewed Life with purpose in God’s Presence.
This is where the secret to Istiqama, or spiritual abidance in God’s Presence, is to be found: in the extraordinariness of the ordinary. In the wonder of the present moment filled with a profoundly ordinary intimacy with God. If Ramadan served you well, it opened and widened your heart to an inner spaciousness of intimacy with God. To be aware of His Nearness to us in a renewed way is to awaken to a gratitude (shukr) of His Blessings at every moment. Let us strive to relate to all aspects of our life, our being, our roles, our thoughts, emotions, and actions from such an awakened Heart-Presence with God. The key to abidance in God, the key to constant Dhikr, is not in how much active dhikr we perform. Consistency in practice, or dhikrun kathira, is certainly important in the process of concentrating our divine remembrance and awakening the Heart (qalb). However the key is in appreciating how Present God already is in all we perceive and do. This is the Divine Gift of the ‘break’ of Ramdan as the celebration of Eid. God is truly found in the gaps: in the gap or silence of our being that underlies our doing. The true Gift in this transition is a conscious and intentional return to our ordinary life with a renewed sense of Allah.
Cherish the Gift.
In the Name,
–Hasan Awan, Al-Qadiri-Shadhili
