This
is
the first time these beautiful prayers upon Rasulullah, Sallallahu
'alaihi wa Sallam, are translated
to English. These are excerpts of the Salawat of Kunooz Al-Asrar
(Treasures of Secrets) and not
the full translation, as several paragraphs and sentences could not be
translated while conveying the same meaning or beauty. These prayers became renowned in Egypt through the late Sheikh Abdel Fattah AlQady, the initiator of the Qadya-Shadulia Tariqa in Egypt, who used it as litany all his life, and recommended it to all his sons and followers. He was the Sheikh of Egyptian Quran Reciters in the 1950s. The Grand Imam Sheikh Abdel Haleem Mahmoud wrote about these prayers and about Sheikh AlQady in his book: “The Case of Sufism: The Shaduli School” (Dar Al Ma'aref, Cairo, 5th ed. pp 371-373): “And one day an
elderly scholar from the village came to his house. After they had a
conversation about the righteous and their characteristics, he
presented the sheikh a manuscript that collected forms of different
values, and of multiplied rewards and gains for asking for prayers
upon the chosen one, Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam, and told him: ‘Take
this and copy it and make it your litany, for it has considerable
benefits and graces.’ The sheikh asked him: ‘whom did you copy it
from?’ He said: ’I copied it from Sheikh Al-Ashmouny, may The Lord be
pleased with him, the renowned Azhar scholar, and he advised me to read
it, for it has a remarkable secret, and it is a sort of nearness to the
presence of the messenger Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam.’
Sheikh Al-Haroushy divided these salawat into 4
quarters similar to what Al-Jazouly did with Dalayel Al-Khayrat, to
ease
its reading a quarter a day.The sheikh then knew that this was an endowment from The Lord sent to him through this scholar, and he actually copied it in a few days as was his usual habit to haste in everything that had to do with religion and with the afterlife. The sheikh made it his litany, whereupon it became for him the key to every grace, and he used to say: “I did not find a faster or shorter path to the presence of the messenger Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam, or anything that better led to The Lord’s content (subhanahu wata3ala) than these salawat. They are reason to ease life's difficulties and relieving worries, and bringing down graces, and satisfying needs.” Whenever a matter grieved the sheikh, he would rush to perform prayers and to reading this manuscript. His rush to perform prayers was out of following the prophet (Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam), who used to rush to prayers whenever a matter grieved him. His rush to reading this manuscript was because of what he had experienced a lot of times. Whenever something alarmed him or whenever danger was imminent and he read the manuscript, he found ease and relief. That is why the sheikh was very keen on reading it and urged his children to hold to and read it avidly. Also because of the light and blessing and the prophet (Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam)’s acceptance he found in it, and because of his Knowledge that asking for prayers upon the prophet Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam, is a key to all matters closed, and a route to happiness in both lives. And suffices as proof of its great value and huge benefit and grace is that Rasullullah Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam, held it in his honorable hand and told the sheikh in a dream: “I like them, I like them.” And these salawat are by Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Mohammed Al-Haroushy, originally from Fas in Morocco, who traveled to and visited Tunisia and is buried there." |