Medina and the Chapter Ya Sin - Umrah Pilgrimage Part 20

WHAT A PITY. One of the first emotions which I crossed my heart when I gazed upon the gilded entrance into the actual tomb of the Prophet was “He looks caged… What a pity.” Later that night while chilling with my companion, Afizan, he also voiced the same feelings – “I don’t know, but when I gazed before the Raudah, I felt pity – that he is visited by thousands upon thousands of his followers each hour of the day, yet he looks imprisoned behind in the Raudah (Literally means ‘the Garden’ and denotes the resting place of the Prophet inside his mosque, Masjid Nabawi).” I thought I was the only one feeling such emotion, but I guess I am not alone.

EASILY PLEASED. While I was sitting by the pavement on my first day in Medina, suddenly a young arab youth sat next to me and asked to borrow my lighter. He said “How are you, brother?” It was a greeting which he obviously thought little of, but to me it meant everything. Finally, a local of the City of the Prophet greeted me as a guest. He then said thank you and left me to my contentment. It doesn’t take much to please me. Not in Medina especially.

CHAPTER YA SIN, VERSE NO. 82. I spent a lot of time in Medina with a room mate whom I call Arjuna. He is a sincere person, charming, energetic and has lived an interesting life though he isn’t very old. In one of our many chats, he had this to share. “I have a teacher of the Tarikat (Sufi Order) in Indonesia. And one day he told me that in the Chapter Ya Sin of the Holy Quran, in particular verse No.82, the bit where it goes “…kun fayakoon…”, it means that God says “kun!” and the Prophet replies “…fayakoon!” Below is the actual verse in Arabic Script and as translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

Verily, when He intends a thing, His Command is, "be", and it is!
(Innama amruhu itha aradashay-an an yaqoola lahu kun fayakoonu)

So in summary, what the Sufi teacher is trying to say is that all happenings in Creation from the Year-Minus-Zero till now occurred and is still occuring upon God saying “Be” and the Muhammad replying “And it is!”.

I nodded my head appreciatively, “Cool, cool... I never heard that one before.”, and thereafter kept my silence. Later that night however I remembered our conversation and wrote it down in my journal. For me, it was the best thing so far that I have received in Medina. A third bundle came in the form of a poem to a sinner as he made his solitary walk back from his midnight soiree at the Raudah. And that prose shall be in my next posting about the pilgrimage. But for now I leave you with a little poem recorded some 7 years back, ‘the Nabee’ here meaning the Prophet, Muhammad...

38. Make Me Pretty
o' Lord,
If I am a gift to the Nabee,
Then wrap me up in Your Beauty.

Powder my nose with discretion,
Shade my eyes with compassion,
Scent my breath with remembrance,
Colour my lips with conviction,
Lighten my brow with humility,
And comb my hair with chivalry.

Have a lovely day, sunshine. God bless you.

Pax Taufiqa.