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Imam al-Busiri said in his famous poem
al-Burda (lines 52-53):
And every single sign brought by
the noble Prophets was theirs only as part of his light,
For verily he is a sun of perfection
of which they are the moons bringing its light to people in the midst of
darkness.
al-Qastallani (d. 923) in his al-Mawahib
al-laduniyya (ed. al-Shami, 2:583), quoted Ibn Marzuq who commented on
Busiri's lines thus:
He [al-Busiri] means that every miracle
that every messenger has brought, surely was only because it was an extension
to each one of them of the light of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and give
him peace. How beautiful is his saying "surely was only because it was
extended of his light to them" for it suggests that his light, may Allah
bless him and give him peace, has ever been existing in him, and nothing
of it was decreased. Had he said, "surely it was from his light", then
it could have been imagined that he distributed it to them, and that perhaps
nothing of it remained for him. All the signs given each one of them was
only theirs through his light, may Allah bless him and give him peace,
because he is a sun of excellence, and they are the planets of that sun
which convey its lights to humankind in the darkness. The planets are not
shining by themselves, but they receive light from the sun, so that when
the sun is absent they show the light of the sun. Similarly, the Prophets
before his existence used to show his excellence, so that whatever lights
appeared at the hands of the messengers other than him, it was only from
his outpouring light and vast extension (madad), without decreasing anything
of it.
- Anas relates that the Prophet said:
"The simile of the scholars of knowledge (al-`ulama') on the earth is the
stars in the sky by which one is guided in the darkness of the land and
the sea. When the stars are clouded over, the guides are about to be lost."
- Ahmad narrated it in his Musnad
(3:157 #12606) with a chain containing Rishdin ibn Sa`d who is weak. However,
it is confirmed by the hadith in Muslim and Ahmad narrated by Abu Musa
al-Ash`ari whereby the Prophet said: "The stars are trust-keepers for the
heaven, and when the stars wane, the heaven is brought what was promised
(i.e. of the corruption of the world and the coming of the Day of Judgment);
and I am a trust-keeper for my Companions, so when I go my Companions will
be brought what was promised them (i.e. of fitna and division); and my
Companions are trustkeepers for my Community, so when they go my Community
will be brought what was promised to you (i.e. following hawa and vying
for dunya)."
In al-Salat al-Mashishiyya attributed
to Sayyid 'Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish the student of Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili:
Allahumma salli `ala man minhu inshaqqat
al-asrar wa infalaqat al-anwar.
O Allah! Send blessings upon him
from whom issued the secrets and broke forth the lights.
Amin.
End of the three-part series on the
light of the Prophet Muhammad - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam - posted in
the month of Rabi` al-Awwal 1419 by the repentant servant, Hajj Gibril.
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