Thursday, 6th Rabīʿ al-Ākhar
He (Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA) was at the pinnacle of conviction and sincerity of faith. And by virtue of the noble traits and sacred knowledge he possessed, he was the quintessence of all essence and the purest of the pure. His Maula, Imam al-Zaman, chose to confer upon him the highest honour by bringing him close and raising him to his company on the day of Friday. Indeed, the common and the elite alike acknowledged the proof of his pre-eminence. He was an unfurled banner for the righteous faith, and a scripture, within which the remembrance of Allah and his beloved companions had been inscribed. He inspired a number of revivals and advancements in [the art and science of] Hifz al-Quran through his persistent encouragement, motivating men, women, and their children to commit the entire Quran to memory. Undoubtedly, he was the essence of all Creation and its purest. He never ceased ensuring the completion and fulfillment of the righteous faith’s ordinances and duties. With the blessings of Qardan Hasanaa, he recompensated the loans and settled the debts of all those indebted. He was a surging ocean of knowledge and the confluence of nobility and glories. He was the splendour of mihrabs and the beauty of inkwells. He was the repository for esoteric, sacred knowledge, and the support for the upstanding scholars. He is our sovereign and our Maula, our guide to the straight and just path, the revered Daʿi whose munificence is boundless and clemency magnificent — our beloved Maula, Syedna Abu al-Qaidjohar Mohammed Burhanuddin. May Allah extend the life of his gatherings of wisdom until the day of Qiyamat.
He was succour for his followers and the defender of the Dawat’s sanctuary. He spared no effort in the service of his Immaculate Imams. O, woe unto the children of Dawat! O, what sorrow for the loss of the refuge of Mumineen! We have been afflicted by his absence with such a calamity that if it were to befall mountains they would crumble to dust, reduced to nothing but heaps of sand. If it were to befall the sea, its waters would run dry or the upper most echelons of the firmament, its skies would collapse. If this calamity were to chance upon the sun it would eclipse itself in veils, or the moon it would wane and fall beneath the horizon. If this tragedy were to strike the earth it would tremble and shake till it lay flattened. In their despair, the stars of heaven would scatter in a daze.
What is to be said of the state of our hearts having been afflicted with this harrowing tragedy! Why should they not burst open by the severity of this misfortune! Aah, after aah, after aah! [My sorrow] is forever; uninterrupted and unceasing! He was a Maula whose virtue was apparent to all upstanding Mumineen and the full moon of his perfection shone brilliantly, outshining all other luminaries. He possessed the authority of proscription and prescription, negation and ratification. His glory was dignified and distinguished as were the magnanimous conferments which he bestowed upon us. He continually raised Mumineen’s spiritual and material standards through his lucid counsels and guidance. He adorned a great number of their souls, homes and neighbourhoods with symbols of faith — eminent and lofty. He strived relentlessly in improving matters of their trade and commerce by elucidating what is halal and prohibiting ill-gotten wealth and that which is haram, which both lead astray. His efforts in rescuing Mumineen from the mire of interest, while the entire world remained ensnared in its pitfalls without any hope of emancipation, are valorous and legendary.
He was the sea of magnanimity, the refuge from ruin and destruction, the death of adversaries, the light of guidance and the ocean of munificence. He was a salubrious, sweet spring; most eminent in his benevolence and most sincere in fulfilling his promises. He had been habituated to angelic traits and had revived numerous pious traditions and customs. He reinforced and defined the boundaries of Allah’s faith. Every atom throughout the universe weeps his loss, and each speck of dust, by mourning him and remembering his munificence, is transformed into a precious pearl.
Indeed, all throughout his life, he untiringly and unceasingly spent himself in expressing intense grief upon Imam Husain the Martyred. Undoubtedly! The most cherished sound to him was that of ‘Ya Husain’. How eloquent are his words, and and how perfectly they are composed:
Imam of righteousness, O Husain!
Station of Truth, O Husain!
The Book of Speech, O Husain!
The Essence of Creation, O Husain!
I will continue to weep upon you, my Maula Husain!
My tafādī (sacrifice) for you is eternal, my Maula Husain!
My Maula! My Maula Husain!
How often has his recital of the eloquent elegiac compositions of Syedna Muʾayyad moved the souls of Mumineen to tears: tears which dyed them in Allah’s excellent hue.
Will you not mourn the one who is the most pre-eminent of pious martyrs in both body and spirit! [Will you not shed tears for] the one who is the purest of origin of those virtuous and immaculate souls who lie upon the sands of Karbala! Will you not weep for the one whose martyrdom shattered the very heart of Islam! [Will you not lament] the one whose persecution at the hands of oppressive infidels violated the sanctity of prophethood! A tragedy that led to the daughters of Mustafa Rasul Allah SAW being herded atop camels, their heads unveiled, to the tyrant of Damascus. Out of revenge and retribution, his (Imam Husain AS) possessions were spitefully looted and distributed amongst the remaining idol worshipers who had only accepted Islam out of fear of the sword.
May Allah exalt his (Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA) sacredness and sustain us with his intercessory blessings and comfort.