بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Al-Hadid (Iron) - Is it not time that the hearts of all who have attained to faith should feel humble at the remembrance of God and of all the truth that has been bestowed [on them] from on high, 57:16
This
is the third blog post about the same transformative ayat, Al-Hadid
57:16, of the Qur'an, which was mentioned in the blog post "The time to change is Now", and "The time to change is NOW part 2"
It is said that when Khwaja Nizamuddin was in Delhi, completing his advanced studies in religion he wanted to go visit Baba Farid and beseech him to be his guide or murshid in the spiritual way. But different thoughts and hesitations would come to his mind and he would decide to postpone it. Till one day he heard the muezzin preparing for tahajjud, just after midnight who recited this verse. It shook Khwaja, who responded, yes, the time has come and starting walking towards Ajodhan (modern day Pakpattan) covering a distance of more than 400 kilometers.
in the Sufi biographical work Akhbār al-Akhyār fī Asrār al-Abrār by ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Muḥaddith Dehlavī it is quoted that Khwaja Niẓāmuddīn says that the first words he heard from the Shaykh were this verse—the Shaykh “recited” it as a greeting:
ای آتشِ فِراقَت دلها کباب کرده
سیلابِ اشتیاقت جانها خراب کرده
Ah the fire of Your separation—has roasted hearts (like kebab);
the flood of longing for You has ruined lives.
As a welcome greeting, it’s almost like saying:
- “This path is not comfortable.”
- “Real longing for Allah will burn and shake you.”
- “And if you’ve come with that kind of longing, you’re in the right place.”
