Virtuous Supplications and Blessed Visions
Counsel of al-Sayyid al-Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAbd al-Ghanī b. Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (ḥafiẓahu Allāh)
Shaykh of the Jaʿfariyya Aḥmadiyya Muḥammadiyya Ṭarīqa in Egypt and the Islamic world
There are supplications, ṣalawāt and poems of praise that carry meanings far beyond the words recited upon the tongue. In his counsel on virtuous supplications and visions, al-Sayyid al-Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) relates teachings received from Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) concerning ruʾyā — blessed visions and dreams — and how particular acts of devotion may, by the permission of Allah Most High, become a means of reassurance, guidance and spiritual opening. Readers can read the original counsel in full in Virtuous Supplications and Visions (PDF).
At the heart of this counsel is something subtle: the unseen is not approached as a spectacle, nor are blessed visions something a person commands at will. Rather, Allah may open for His servant through sincere devotion what He wills, when He wills, and in the manner He wills.
When a Vision Carries a Meaning
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) relates a discussion with Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) concerning the nature of visions.
A person may see someone in a dream — a ruler, a judge, a king, a relative or another familiar figure — while the spiritual meaning represented through that form may be connected to one of the righteous.
The people of Taṣawwuf therefore recognised that the outward appearance encountered in a vision does not always exhaust its inward meaning.
A person might, for example, see his grandfather, yet experience within the vision a particular recognition or certainty that the visitation carries a connection to Sayyidinā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu).
Such a vision may contain reassurance concerning a difficulty, an indication relating to something troubling the person, or another form of consolation bestowed by Allah.
The important principle is that these openings remain by the permission of Allah.
The supplication is a means.
The opening is from Allah.
Supplication Is More Than the Movement of the Tongue
This helps us understand why particular supplications have occupied such an important place in the lives of the people of Allah.
A duʿāʾ is not an incantation.
Its power is not independent of Allah, nor does the servant possess some automatic claim upon an unseen result simply because certain words have been repeated.
Rather, supplication is an act of servitude.
The servant turns towards Allah through words carrying blessed meanings, placing his need before his Lord and seeking an opening from Him.
Sometimes the answer comes through circumstances changing.
Sometimes through tranquillity entering the heart.
Sometimes through an unexpected means of relief.
And sometimes Allah may honour a servant with a blessed vision.
The Qaṣīda of Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī
Among the beautiful examples related by Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) is an account concerning his grandfather, Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu).
Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) had composed the qaṣīda:
al-Jaʿfariyyu lahu fī ḥubbikum ʿamalun.
Within it, he mentioned Sayyidinā al-Imām al-Ḥasan (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) and Sayyidinā al-Imām al-Ḥusayn (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu).
After Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) went to sleep, he saw his noble grandfather, Sayyidinā al-Imām ʿAlī (karrama Allāhu wajhahu wa raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu), in a vision.
Sayyidinā ʿAlī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) addressed him in meaning:
“My son Ṣāliḥ, you mentioned my children but did not mention me?”
Sayyidī Shaykh Ṣāliḥ (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) awoke and added verses to the qaṣīda in praise of Sayyidinā ʿAlī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu).
The incident reveals something of the living relationship that the people of Allah maintained with the righteous who preceded them — a relationship of love, reverence and spiritual inheritance.
Poetry as an Invitation of Love
Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Jaʿfarī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) explained that frequent recitation of this qaṣīda may, by Allah’s permission, become a means through which the reciter is blessed with a vision of Sayyidinā al-Imām ʿAlī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu).
He described the qaṣīda, in this sense, as an “invitation” towards Sayyidinā ʿAlī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu).
This language is beautiful when properly understood.
It is an invitation made through love.
The tongue repeatedly praises the beloved of Allah. The mind repeatedly encounters his virtues. The heart becomes increasingly occupied with him. What was initially recited outwardly begins to leave its impression inwardly.
Sacred poetry thus becomes more than literature.
It educates love.
It gives the heart something noble with which to become occupied.
And, by Allah’s permission, what fills the heart in wakefulness may be reflected back to the servant during sleep.
The Praise of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
A similar principle is mentioned regarding another famous qaṣīda:
al-Ghunmu madḥu Rasūlillāhi yuntaẓaru —
“The booty is the praise of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ awaited, on the Day of Judgement when the people will be gathered.”
Sayyidī Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) related that its recitation may become an invitation towards a vision of Sayyidinā ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu), by the permission of Allah Most High.
Again, what matters is the principle beneath the example.
There are words inherited from the righteous whose repeated recitation nurtures particular meanings within the heart.
There are ṣalawāt that deepen love for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
There are qaṣāʾid that bind the heart to the noble Companions (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhum).
There are supplications through which the servant repeatedly turns towards Allah with his needs.
The words become companions upon the journey.
When the Seeker Has a Need
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) explains that a person may have a particular need or be facing a particular difficulty.
He may then recite a special virtuous supplication connected with the righteous predecessors and the best generations.
By the permission of Allah Most High, he may then be blessed with a vision of one of those noble predecessors.
The vision may bring an indication that the difficulty will be resolved.
It may offer reassurance.
It may contain a sign concerning the matter.
Or a spiritual secret or benefit may be bestowed upon the servant.
But the central phrase must never be forgotten:
By the permission of Allah Most High.
The righteous do not replace Allah.
The supplication does not replace Allah.
The vision does not replace Allah.
Everything returns to Him.
The servant asks Him, relies upon Him and receives from Him.
Seeing the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a Dream
The highest and most precious subject addressed in the counsel is the blessed vision of our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) explains that when a person is blessed with seeing the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a ruʾyā, there may be a special recognition accompanying the vision, together with what is known of his ﷺ blessed and noble descriptions.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is seen in a form befitting his loftiness, nobility and exalted rank.
And concerning the reality of seeing him ﷺ in a dream, the authentic ḥadīth gives the believer extraordinary reassurance:
“Whoever sees me in a dream has truly seen me, for Shayṭān cannot assume my form.”
The meaning is reported in the authentic collections of Imām al-Bukhārī and Imām Muslim.
For the lover of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, there are few gifts more precious than to be blessed with his vision.
Yet even here, the objective of the spiritual path is greater than the pursuit of extraordinary experiences.
The objective is Allah.
And love of His Messenger ﷺ is among the greatest means of drawing near to Him.
The Illuminating Lamp ﷺ
This discussion arose in connection with one of the prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ in the Ṣalawāt al-Jaʿfariyya and its description of the blessed manifestation of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Sayyidī Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ (ḥafiẓahu Allāh) connects this with a profound spiritual understanding.
Every goodness is a light.
And the source of the goodness manifested within us is connected to al-Sirāj al-Munīr — the Illuminating Lamp ﷺ.
Allah Most High describes His Beloved ﷺ as a luminous lamp, and the people of love understood that attachment to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ transforms the servant.
Ṣalawāt are therefore not merely words spoken about him ﷺ.
Through them, the heart repeatedly turns towards him ﷺ.
His noble character is remembered.
His beauty is remembered.
His mercy is remembered.
His guidance is remembered.
His rank with Allah is remembered.
And through continual ṣalawāt, love takes deeper root within the heart of the believer.
Do Not Make the Vision the Goal
There is an important balance to preserve when speaking about blessed visions.
A person should not measure his relationship with Allah according to whether or not he sees extraordinary dreams.
One servant may be blessed with many visions.
Another may rarely remember a dream at all.
The spiritual path cannot be reduced to either.
The measure is servitude to Allah: faith, obedience, sincerity, remembrance, love, good character and steadfastness.
A blessed vision can be a gift.
It can console the heart.
It can strengthen aspiration.
It can increase love.
But the seeker worships Allah, not the experience.
He recites ṣalawāt because Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ and the believers have been commanded to do so.
He loves the noble Ahl al-Bayt and the Companions (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhum) because of their rank and their connection to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
He makes duʿāʾ because he is a servant standing in need before his Lord.
If Allah then grants an opening, it is received with gratitude.
And if no extraordinary experience comes, the worship itself remains precious.
What Occupies the Heart Appears Upon It
There is a wider lesson within this counsel.
What we repeatedly place before the heart matters.
When the tongue becomes accustomed to ṣalawāt, the heart is reminded of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
When it becomes accustomed to the praise of the righteous, the heart is reminded of their virtues.
When it becomes accustomed to duʿāʾ, the heart learns its dependence upon Allah.
And when sacred meanings accompany a person throughout his waking hours, it should not surprise us that Allah may allow those meanings to accompany him into his sleep.
This is one of the beauties of the inherited supplications, ṣalawāt and qaṣāʾid of the spiritual tradition.
They give the tongue something to recite.
They give the mind something to contemplate.
And they give the heart someone and something worthy to love.
The seeker therefore does not merely ask:
What words am I reciting?
He should also ask:
What are these words cultivating within my heart?
For the greatest fruit of a virtuous supplication is not an extraordinary dream.
It is a heart that has been turned towards Allah.
And among the greatest fruits of ṣalawāt is a heart increasingly filled with love for our Master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
May Allah Most High fill our hearts with His remembrance, adorn them with love for His Beloved ﷺ, join us to the people of righteousness, and grant us sincerity, soundness and steadfastness upon the path to Him.
O Allah, bestow blessings and peace upon our Master and Liege Muḥammad ﷺ, upon his Family and his Companions, in every glance and every breath, by the number of all that is contained within the knowledge of Allah.
Terminology
Ruʾyā — a vision or dream. In Islamic usage, ruʾyā ṣāliḥa refers to a good or truthful dream.
Ṣalawāt — prayers invoking Allah’s blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Qaṣīda (pl. qaṣāʾid) — an Arabic poem; within the devotional tradition, often a poem praising the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the Ahl al-Bayt, the Companions or the righteous.
Ahl al-Bayt — the blessed Household and Family of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Taṣawwuf — the Islamic science and path concerned with spiritual purification, excellence in worship and the cultivation of the heart.
Al-Sirāj al-Munīr — “the Illuminating Lamp,” a Qurʾānic description of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.