The Last Nights – We have a distant journey, and few provisions

The Last Nights – We have a distant journey, and few provisions

A reminder from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (tr. Sh. Musa Furber)

al-salamu `alaykum

Something beautiful from Ibn Rajab’s Lata’if al-Ma`arif (p342) to help with our nightly vigils during the last ten days of Ramadan:

The wife of Habib Abu Muhammad a student of al-Hasn al-Basri would say to him at night: The night has departed. We have a distant journey ahead of us and few provisions. The caravans of the Righteous have traveled before us while we remained behind:

O, you who sleep at night: how long do you slumber?
Arise my love, the appointment has approached.
Take part of the night and of its duration
[for] worship so long as the slumberers have not dozed. Whoever slept til his night has ended
has not reached the camp nor endeavored.
Tell those with minds, endowed with god-fearing,
for you the heavy weight of examination is appointed.

wa al-salamu `alaykum

musa.