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In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

On the authority of Abu Musa al-Ash`ari (may Allah be pleased with him) who reported that the Prophet (Muhammad) may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said:

"The likeness of a righteous friend and an evil friend, is the likeness of a perfume seller and a blacksmith. As for the perfume seller, he may either bestow something on you, or you may purchase something from him, or you may benefit from his sweet smell. And as for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, or at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace."

(al-Bukhari and Muslim)



The Perfume Sellers


The Best of Creation drew a likeness
Between a perfume seller and a friend that's righteous

Your meetings with him are beneficial and pleasant!
He might grace you with some perfume as a present

You might purchase that which he has to sell
Or you might simply benefit, from his sweet smell

A lesson from the comprehensive speech
Through the Prophet those distant come within reach

Sweet-scented wisdom on how to move forw'd
When he praised Good Company for the Sake of the Lord

~*~

So run fast and find the Perfume Sellers
In the fields of good works, they're beyond the trend setters

They're your shade from the stench of insidious pressures
To follow the ego and chase worldly pleasures

The Perfume Sellers - they're the go getters!
Standing high on the peaks of spiritual endeavours

Hold-on to their feathers and soar through the sky
For an ant with a bird, is an ant that can fly

Perfect the Duties of Brotherhood
Experience a mutual love for the good

That cannot be replaced with fame nor wealth
For no man is island unto himself

A spiritual brother to a spiritual brother
They're like two hands which wash the other

And in these times how much is this needed
When lost souls feel alone and defeated

So let he who has faith - let he who believes
Make firm his resolve and roll up his sleeves

And strive - strive to be Perfume Sellers
With genuine love and honourable gestures

And if we find it hard to be entrepreneurs
Let us start with a love for good works and good doers

Yes, increase in your love for the Perfume Sellers,
Who needs the liars and fortune tellers

Enviers, drunkards, gamblers and betters
Backbiters and those will ill-tempers...

Just one Perfume Seller - how that would be better!
When selecting your friends make taqwa the measure

For a spiritual bond is a bond that's forever
And a worldly bond is a bond that will sever

How I wish to discuss more than the weather!
And to exchange more than jokes that are clever!

For this fleeting world is destined to wane
And so too are the friendships based on the mundane

But this circle seeks virtuous traits,
And journeys a path traversed by the greats

And continues beyond the Garden's Gates
For whom Allah Wills, a Great Bounty awaits...

~*~

"The mu'min is a mirror to his fellow believer"
Remember these words from Humanity's Leader

May he be bless'd: the Best - of Company
Wa Aalihi wa Sahbihi

All of whom, were flowers in bloom,
And with the beads of his sweat, had the finest perfume

It was he who made each a Perfume Seller
They loved, they struggled, they died together...

May God open for you a fountain of treasure
And place you with a chosen Perfume Seller

And may the fragrance of his suhba suffice
Till you smell the sweetness of Paradise!




Irshaad Ahmad Rashid
May 2013
Toronto, Canada





Notes:

1) - Arabic for "may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him" - after the mention of the Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

2) The Best of Creation i.e. Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

3) The Comprehensive Speech - a reference to the Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) articulating (short) expressions containing complete and vast meanings. In al-Bukhari it is related that the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself mentioned that he had been sent (by God) with the comprehensive speech.

4) Duties of Brotherhood - in addition to the literal meaning, this is also a reference to book 15 of Imam Ghazali's 'Revival of the Religious Sciences' entitled "The Duties of Brotherhood" (may God spread his benefit).

5) Taqwa - piety, reverential awe of Allah

6) Dunya - this temporal world - the lowly aspects of this temporal world (e.g. the hearts attachment to status, lusts, material wealth, etc).

7) Mu'min - believer

8) Humanity's Leader - i.e. Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

9) Wa Aalihi wa Sahbihi - and his Family and his Companions (may Allah be well pleased with them)

10) And with the beads of his sweat, had the finest perfume - for example (related in Muslim) Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her) collected the blessed beads of sweat of the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as he took rest at her house. She placed it in bottles and mentioned that she mixed it with her perfume.

11) Chosen Perfume Seller - An Accomplished Spiritual Guide (i.e. Murshid al-Kamil)

12) Suhba - company, association with




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