During the mawlid of our master al-Husayn, Shaykh Salih relates:
“I entered the maqam of my master al-Husayn and stood in the direction of the qibla and said, ‘Yesterday I came (here) but I did not find you’, to which our master al-Husayn replied ‘I am here for you, o lovers of the Ahlul Bayt! I am here for you! I am watching you when you leave the first row and position of the Imam of the noble Azhar and come here to me! Yesterday when you came to me, you had something inside you (i.e. your heart) and it was anger and sadness!’.
I stood in front of my master feeling very shy because I had made him angry. At that moment, Allah most High, inspired me and I addressed my master al-Husayn saying, ‘By the noble virtues of your grandfather (ﷺ) and the madih (poems of praise) of your grandfather (ﷺ), I live in safety in this world and the Hereafter!’. I repeated this three times; even though I have memorized the entire Qur’an, and memorized Bukhari and Muslim, and other books detailing the Prophetic Sunnah, and made Hajj many, many times; I only spoke of madih! When I repeated this for the third time, my master al-Husayn hugged me to his chest and said ‘Ameen!’.
I made a pledge to myself that I will never leave the madih of the Prophet (ﷺ). The madih brings us safety and security in this life and from the horrors of the Resurrection in the Hereafter.”
