O passion of love

O surge of passion, take me to the springtimes of Taybah;The wounded one will find peace in the springtimes of Taybah.

Light in every direction, songs of joy everywhere:What a wondrous stir there is in the springtimes of Taybah!

Call it an ascension, call it the wealth of the Hereafter:That one moment of yours spent in the springtimes of Taybah.

The whole air of the world is perfumed with fragrance;Such flowers of nearness bloomed in the springtimes of Taybah.

Every wound healed, safety was found from every grief;The restless one found rest in the springtimes of Taybah.

When the hand of generosity was raised, clouds rose from every side;How richly land and water were filled in the springtimes of Taybah!

In Ahmad's garden may every flower stay fresh,And every tree bear a hundred thousand fruits, in the springtimes of Taybah.

It is the bounty of my spiritual guide (murshid) that the splendours are now open to all;Life and heart are brimming in the springtimes of Taybah.

Give to me to my heart's content, make me intoxicated now;Let me be sacrificed for you again and again in the springtimes of Taybah.

My murshid, the Mujaddid, and the King of Madinah together:Oh, would that there were such a gathering in the springtimes of Taybah!

This, Afaq, is the fruit of serving my murshid:The cup that is given every moment in the springtimes of Taybah.

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Be Generous Now

O Prophet, Ahmad the Chosen, be generous now;There is a throng of griefs, O consoler; be generous now.

That my soul may find rest and my heart be granted peace,O peace and comfort of the world, be generous now.

My sorrowful story is very long;Who will listen, O Master? Be generous now.

My disciples (murids), my sons and daughters, my wife,Are devoted to you, O beloved; be generous now.

On the Day of Gathering, preserve our honour too;I am a very great sinner; be generous now.

For the sake of our Ahmad of Sirhind, O Prophet,That I may see Madinah a hundred times, be generous now.

O Light of the Truth, may I be granted your splendours;That heart and eye may shine, be generous now.

The world is nourished, Afaq, on his morsels;Say to him alone: O Master, be generous now.

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The Arabian Messenger

Who will hear the plea, alas, O Arabian Messenger?To whom should one show the wounds, O Arabian Messenger?

Wings and feathers are clipped, the strength to fly is gone;How can one reach Taybah, O Arabian Messenger?

Lightning keeps striking the harvest of life;Who but you can save it, O Arabian Messenger?

You are the knower of the unseen, the beloved of Allah, the manifestation of the Truth;The Qur'an swears by you, O Arabian Messenger.

You are the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward;Who could bring forth your equal, O Arabian Messenger?

The dignity of humankind exists through you;The prophets sang your songs, O Arabian Messenger.

The Creator of all gave everything for your sake;May your alms reach me too, O Arabian Messenger.

Love of you alone is my capital for the Hereafter;May only this wealth of mine be saved, O Arabian Messenger.

Such Najdism, whose foundation is insulting prophethood,May it be ground into the dust, O Arabian Messenger.

You are the cause of peace for the anxious heart, O Master;May nothing please me now but you, O Arabian Messenger.

Whenever the moments of the death throes come to mind,My body trembles with fear, O Arabian Messenger.

The ship of religion is in a whirlpool; may some man of truthCome again from Sirhind as its captain, O Arabian Messenger.

By the grace of Ahmad, may the Ahmadia become a centre of religion;May the spring of your love come, O Arabian Messenger.

May your hand of kindness remain on Afaq's head;Then who could efface him, O Arabian Messenger?

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The Land of Madinah

I long to see the land of Madinah;O Allah, show me the spring of Madinah.

This heart and soul, life and body, wife and children,May they, my Master, be sacrificed for Madinah.

May Madinah be on the lips, Madinah in the heart;May all be granted such intoxication of Madinah.

May they read Madinah, may they write Madinah;May all their words and deeds bear the mark of Madinah.

Madinah is life, Madinah is faith;How can I tell you what the dignity of Madinah is?

How tranquil are this heart and soulEver since the thorn of Madinah pierced them!

He at whose sign the order of both worlds runs:Such is my crowned king of Madinah.

Afaq wishes that Raza be with himWhen he sets out towards the tulip garden of Madinah.

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O Crowned King of Batha

Master whose way is mercy, O crowned king of Batha,You are the giver to the Ummah, O crowned king of Batha.

Through you my ruined fate will be mended;You are the support of all, O crowned king of Batha.

My heart no longer takes to anything at all;What I seek is the sight of you, O crowned king of Batha.

Your generous glance is the balm for the wounded heart;Your sign is the cure, O crowned king of Batha.

Despair has spread from every side now, O Master;For Allah's sake, be generous, O crowned king of Batha.

For the sake of Ahmad Raza, show kindness to Afaq;How long must he wander, stricken, O crowned king of Batha?

Springtimes Will Come Again

O Master, give us too a heartfelt concern for the Sunnah;Give every vein of mine a passion for service.

Springtimes will come again, we will tie green turbans;Give us a little love for your noble life (sira).

May we go to every lane and sing the songs of the Sunnah;O Master, give us abundant zeal for hard work.

May the spring of Madinah come, may everyone be devoted;Give the world once again the gift of love.

May the age of fashion go and the light of love come;Give humanity a glimpse of true affection.

May all become preachers of Islam and the Sunni way;O Giver, give the Ummah a zeal for calling to the faith (da'wa).

Our Ahmad Raza is the support of us all;For his sake give us the gift of mercy.

Afaq, rise now and spread the call far and wide;But may you, O Master, give him the right manner of calling.

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Come to Madinah

Come, come, my friends, come to Madinah;With na'at on the lips and moist eyes, come to Madinah.

Madinah is the splendour of every garden and orchard;We shall live in peace, friends; you and I, come to Madinah.

Where are you, O stricken with pain? Where are you, O thirsty ones?Thirst will be quenched, sorrows will end: come to Madinah.

Why speak of one or two drops?There everyone is given the cup of Jamshid: come to Madinah.

Courtesy is the condition; kindness is shown every moment;With pain in your heart and grief for him, come to Madinah.

Obey him alone, listen to him alone, and to whoever speaks of him;Beware of the Wahhabis, O people; come to Madinah.

Ask not of his greatness: he is the beloved of Allah,The ruler of the realm of bounty and generosity: come to Madinah.

Allah made him greater than every great one;He is king of the messengers, king of the nations: come to Madinah.

He came into the world, and spring came everywhere;If you would see the most perfect grace, come to Madinah.

Through him the world found peace and rest;Cruelty, oppression and tyranny were wiped out: come to Madinah.

He is the giver of generosity, Afaq; he will bestow;You will receive the blessings of both worlds: come to Madinah.

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Note: Hazrat wrote the above blessed na'at while he was setting out by bus from Makkah to Madinah Munawwarah on 24 February 2004.

O Dweller of Madinah

Ever since your lights settled within, O Dweller of Madinah,The heart is longing every moment, O Dweller of Madinah.

There is no rest in the morning and no peace in the evening;I am facing a strange state, O Dweller of Madinah.

In my heart is a constant awareness of my sins, O Master;Mercy, O mercy of the All-Forgiving, O Dweller of Madinah.

Now, O Prophet, show generosity to the state of the poor;Let the ruined field become a rose garden, O Dweller of Madinah.

Lights rain down constantly upon thoseWho are drenched in your love, O Dweller of Madinah.

The darkness of the grave will vanish entirely, O people,The moment the Master comes, the Dweller of Madinah.

Sin upon sin, day and night, is our habit;I am ashamed of my sins, O Dweller of Madinah.

I have no one in the world, O Arabian Messenger;You are my companion, my consoler, O Dweller of Madinah.

Those with whom I had ties of love, whom I thought my own,Today are bent on hurting me, O Dweller of Madinah.

If grief is what you give, then give me the grace to bear it;Let grief itself become my friend, O Dweller of Madinah.

Would that generosity be shown to Afaq, O Master,That he too may be present at your court, O Dweller of Madinah.

A Wondrous City

It is a wondrous city, its air is wondrous;The breeze there, soaked in perfume, is wondrous.

That is the city of Taybah of the beloved Prophet, O people;By Allah, if death comes to one who reaches there, that death is wondrous.

How can the flowers of its garden be described,When the grace of its very thorns is wondrous beyond all?

Alms are given there in full, with great ease;The Creator's mercy there is ever wondrous.

You will receive the wealth of both worlds, O beggars;There, even if you do not ask, the giving is wondrous.

O people distressed by the griefs of the world,Come to Madinah, for the cloud of light there is wondrous.

Whoever asks of Allah through the mediation of the ProphetIs fortunate indeed; his prayer is wondrous.

Whoever dies, friends, in love of the Prophet,Even eternity will kiss him; his death is wondrous.

You will receive, Afaq, the alms of the King of the Age;For your affiliation (nisbat) with Ahmad Raza is wondrous.

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May Healing Be Granted, O Master

O Master, may your sick ones be granted healing;O consoler, may those stricken with pain be granted a cure.

Everywhere there is talk of your kindness and generosity;May the anxious heart be granted the breeze of your hem.

May clouds of gnosis rain and the lands be green;May our parched paddy fields also be granted a rain cloud.

To erase the darkness from the house of the heart,O soul of the sun, may we too be granted some radiance.

Not only life and heart, everything is sacrificed for you;O King of Batha, may we be granted the honour of admittance.

Though your thirsty ones are at their last breath, O soul of the world,What grief is death when one finds a Messiah like you?

The life of the intermediate realm (barzakh) will pass in great comfortIf the dust of Madinah is granted for burial.

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The Sign of Life

Had you not been, where would I have found the sign of life?Without you, where would I have found awareness of servanthood?

At the Gathering it was you who preserved the honour of a sinner like me;Otherwise what would I have gained but shame?

As soon as I remember you, the buds of my heart bloom;Otherwise I was in strange mourning, strange dejection.

Such a ray of his light fell upon my dark heartThat my heart and soul were lit up; I was granted radiance.

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The Splendours of Beauty

Tomorrow, O King, all will behold the splendours of your beauty,When the Banner of Praise is in your hand, O Master.

Ask my grieving eyes the state of my heart and soul;They have long been the prey of grief, O King of yours.

Be it the loneliness of the nights or the bustle of the days,All my gatherings are empty without you, O beloved.

Whomever you wished, you made at once as you wished;The Tablet and the Pen are in your hands, O master and lord.

Be it the wealth of this world or the wealth of the Hereafter, O Prophet,All are indebted to you, O giver of grace.

May we stay captives of grief, may grief alone be my peace;May the rain of grief go on, may I receive your cup of grief.

A wondrous effect of your beauty has been seen:Look at anyone, at any time: all are enamoured of you.

Your radiance, O beautiful one, shines forth in such a wayThat whatever shone, whenever it shone, shone with your light.

I have no longing for beauty, no wish for excellence or perfection;I need nothing at all but you, O Master.

How could this Afaq fail to receive your giftWhen the rivers of your grace flow on the Day of Gathering?

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I Know Nothing at All

The beauty of courtesy, the beauty of asking: I know nothing of them at all;I have heard that no one ever goes empty-handed from your door.

In the shade of love, friends, brimming cups of JamshidAre given here in plenty; no one stays thirsty.

My heart is captive to the love of his kohl-dark eyes,Whose every arrow never misses its mark.

How long must I bear the blows of separation, wandering from door to door?O morning breeze, does he never think of me?

There is surely some rapture and delight hidden in his silence;Why else does no one, on seeing him, stay in control of himself?

His delicate lips parted, and it was as if flowers began to fall;Once his speech is heard, no other speech pleases.

O Mercy to the worlds, this is the effect of your mercy:All are indebted to you; to whom are you not a giver?

Whoever saw you remained yours for ever;Drive him from your door a hundred thousand times, he will not go.

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Tearful Eyes

Ask my tearful eyes what state my heart is inWhenever I have told my story to a confidant.

In the world of my love you are a garden of excellence,Whose tousled tresses perfume the garden of existence.

How can your kindness to your servants be put into writing,When the whole world is filled with your continual grace?

O seekers of peace of heart, come towards Madinah,Where the world finds healing from every pain and grief.

Had you not been, beloved, who knows where we would be?Where would people like us have found safety from Hell?

He came in human form, but as the light of Allah;Let no one claim a likeness to the Master of both worlds.

For the sake of Ahmad of Sirhind, hear our plea too;May my wounded heart receive balm from your balm.

It was your generosity that you gave us Ahmad Raza Khan;Otherwise how could we have travelled this hard road?

If Afaq finds a place in the hem of mercy,What reckoning of life will be taken from us on the Day of Recompense?

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May I Keep Writing Na'at

My heart longs to keep writing na'at for you,To praise you every moment, O Messenger.

I know neither the art nor your true rank;How then can I do justice to writing na'at?

Your qualities are countless, O Master;Let me keep reciting: "After Allah, you are the greatest."

Let me circle the Ka'bah while my thoughts are with you, O Prophet;Thus may I join the remembrance of the Truth and the praise of the Prophet.

O Moon of Arabia, grant us light too;That in every state I may always follow you.

May I be sacrificed a hundred times over for the one of lofty station;Thus may I ever speak of the King of Karbala.

I am a culprit, O Prophet; save me now;Where shall I go, to whom, where shall I plead?

What is dearer than you that I should ask for, O soul of my soul?Of you I ask for you alone, and pray to Allah for you.

The tresses and face of the Beloved will never be given their due,Afaq, even if I praise and extol them all my life.

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Madinah Has Come to Mind Again

See, the heartbeat quickens: Madinah has come to mind again;Do not panic, anxious heart; rejoice: Madinah has come.

Now gardens begin to bloom, every branch is in its prime;Why are you distressed, O ruins? Be inhabited: Madinah has come.

O you who seek Shirin, have you ever thought?The Farhad of the one who is sweet to Shirin herself: Madinah has come.

O Qays, what is this madness, what is this inner burning?Truly, Madinah has come to gladden the seeker of love.

Listen, O captives of grief; listen, O caged birds:The one who frees from every grief, free Madinah, has come.

What black deeds there were, what constant wrongdoing!What provision for the Hereafter! Madinah has come as the provision.

For the sake of Sirhind, Afaq, stay smiling;Madinah has come and made the sorrowful nature glad.

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Taverns of Love

They set up taverns of love wherever they go,Those whom the Master gives to drink the cup of love.

Splendour is their destiny, springtimes are sacrificed for them,Who efface themselves in love of the Master.

Their names live on, their shrines too are thronged;What a fine reward he gives to those who love him!

Those whose lives have been handed over to himHe grants the joy of living in every breath.

Blessings flow from the shrines of thoseWho ever raise the call of Ahmad's name.

The taverns of gnosis have opened, the cupbearer has come;He always gives the thirsty the cup of faithfulness.

Love him: this is the law of faithfulness;He prays for everyone, even for their faults.

Where, Afaq, is anyone who gives more than he?He grants his lovers the breeze of Paradise.

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The Voice of the Heart

The voice of the heart is your name, O Dweller of Madinah;It is our litany morning and evening, O Dweller of Madinah.

How fortunate are your thirsty ones, O soul of the world;They drink deeply of your cup, O Dweller of Madinah.

Heart sacrificed, life devoted, body and soul offered:How beautiful are the doors and roofs of Madinah!

Your mercies are upon all, and your gifts for all;Your grace is open to everyone, O Dweller of Madinah.

May your remembrance be in my heart every moment, my beloved;Then all our affairs will be set right, O Dweller of Madinah.

For the sake of Sirhind, O Master, make your AfaqMature, for he is still raw, O Dweller of Madinah.

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Na'at of the Leader of the World

Recite the na'at of the Leader of the World in the colour of love;The most beautiful of all is the one person, the Leader of the World.

By Allah's grace he comes to our aid at every moment;Speak every moment of the Leader of the World.

Sacrifice everything for him and always die for him:This, friends, is the gift of the Leader of the World.

Ever blossoming, ever bearing fruit, ever fresh,Evergreen are the gardens of the Leader of the World.

Ask not the ranks of those who became his;Generosity rains down, from the Leader of the World.

He is the most perfect manifestation of Allah, the absolute deputy;Countless are the perfections of the Leader of the World.

With the remembrance of Allah, with calling to the faith and with worship,The hours of the Leader of the World were always joyful.

Ask not of his greatness: the Qur'an bears witness;Ever exalted are the ranks of the Leader of the World.

To soothe the burning of the heart, Afaq,The songs of the Leader of the World come to my tongue.

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I Am Certain

I am certain the Master will call me to Madinah again;With a pounding heart and a burning soul, we too shall go.

Na'at will be on our lips and the Green Dome before our eyes;We shall take heart and soul to Madinah as an offering.

Our caravan will descend in the land of love, friends;At every step of his we shall lavish loving prostrations.

How fortunate, when that pure Dome comes into view!Tell me, O heart, how shall we be able to behold it?

This life and body will be sacrificed, the hem of patience will slip away,When the beloved of Allah shows us his lovely face.

I will tell him the grief of my heart and the story of India too;What has befallen my heart we shall tell him, weeping.

We shall ask him for the courage to spread the Sunnah;Everywhere in the world we shall make the flowers of his love bloom.

We shall live taking your name, O Messenger of Allah;We shall wipe the names of your enemies from existence.

We can never tolerate any insult to the Master;Once again we shall beat the drum of your greatness in the world.

We shall live for his sake and die for his name;Every moment, in every gathering, we shall sing his songs.

He will take pity and forgive meWhen we weep and shed our tears before him.

"Be generous to us, O Master, or else we shall give up our lives":Saying this, Afaq, we shall go to Taybah.

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O Dweller of Madinah

We have endured grief after grief, O Dweller of Madinah;Our state is now in ruins, O Dweller of Madinah.

Clouds of sorrow and pain hang over us constantly;We have not seen happiness for so long, O Dweller of Madinah.

Alas, our sinfulness has now exceeded all bounds;Our boat is now in your hands, O Dweller of Madinah.

What can I tell you of the ruin of the garden?Now I am the worst of all creation, O Dweller of Madinah.

Give support now, that the shore may be reached;How long must I wander, stricken, beloved Dweller of Madinah?

May the fields be green, may the settlements be prosperous;May the rain of your generosity fall, O Dweller of Madinah.

For the sake of Ahmad Raza, may I behold your splendours;

May the Garden of Our Heart Be Fragrant, O Dweller of Madinah

How long, O Master, will the nest of the Ummah burn?The Ummah depends on you, beloved Dweller of Madinah.

Our story, O Master, is very painful;Hear it from my own tongue, my Dweller of Madinah.

He is generous to all, he gives cups filled to the brim;How lovely, Afaq, how good is the Dweller of Madinah!

֍֍֍֍The Garden of the Heart

The garden of the heart is now green and flourishing indeed;The Master's homeland has suited me well, friends.

Be it the radiance of the Ka'bah or the splendours of Arafat,It is the grace of the Master: the peace of Makkah is fine indeed.

Even the sun is put to shame by the specks of dust of Mina;There is light upon light, O Sultan of the Age, indeed.

These luminous scenes of the valley of Muzdalifah:In all of them the ray of the King of Madinah is clearly seen.

Wherever the soles of the Leader of the World fell,See how mercy rains down there in abundance.

The greatness of the Two Sanctuaries is from the Master's kindnesses:Thus, Afaq, the people of the Sunnah rightly say.

At Your Door

O Companion of the Helpless, We Have Come to Your Door

The unsheltered have come to your door to seek shelter;Those whose way, O Prophet, was to sin every moment

Have come to your door, O refuge of humans and jinn;That our hearts may be purified and our eyes made pure too,

We have come to your door to ask for the illumination of the soul;For the sake of Hazrat Ahmad, O Messenger of the universe,

Give us the hidden pain: we have come to your door;May my murshid Ahmad Raza remain established, remain for ever;

Grant eternal life: we have come to your door;You are light; we have come to take the alms of light.

Make the world bright: we have come to your door;For the sake of Mazhar Jan-e-Janan, grant Afaq

The blessings of both worlds: we have come to your door.֍֍֍֍