The Gardens of Virtue

Oh Lord! With what thanks may I attain your praise? Oh Lord!

With what gratitude do I mention your grace? Oh Lord! With which of

your names do I ask your bounty? Oh Lord! With what of your

attributes do I plead your blessings? All praise is due to you. All thanks

is rightfully yours, to you is all grace and grace but returns unto you.

You are peace and peace comes from you. Blessed be you oh One of

Glory and Grace.

Oh Initiator of Innovative Creation and Guarantor

The Means for all, the clouds of your Grace deliver

Oh Fulfiller of generous dutifulness and Extender of beautiful

concealment

Encompassing is your Grace and longer

Oh Knowledgeable of hidden secrets and Loyal

6 The Gardens of Virtue  

Accomplisher of promises, Judgment of your reign is just

Grand are your attributes oh Great One

Prodigious to account for due praise by utterer

Sins by your Grace are forgiven

And repentance of sinners by your tolerance endured.

I bear witness that there is no god save Allah alone with no

associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is his messenger, the

trustworthy guide, bringer of good tidings and warning, shining beacon,

best of creatures, most prudent advisor, most gentle with his nation,

merciful with his beloved, Allah's prayers and peace be upon him and

his family and companions all together.

Oh honorable reader, traveler, pauper, lost, struck by thirst, bent by

hunger, exhausted by the journey.

Travelers: no matter how long the life. Paupers: no matter how

grand the wealth. Lost: astray from light, in darkness. Thirsty by

wrongdoing cannot quench. Bent by the hunger of sin, cannot fill.

Exhausted by disorientation, cannot find guidance.

Yet a godly light has captured their minds, awakened them from

their oblivion, and brought them good tidings post bewilderment.

"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His

Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in

glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive,

neither of the east (i.e. neither it gets sun-rays only in the morning) nor

of the west (i.e. nor it gets sun-rays only in the afternoon, but it is

exposed to the sun all day long), whose oil would almost glow forth (of

itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon Light! Allah guides to His

Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and

Allah is All-Knower of everything"1

Those who have felt the membrane2 shatter from their hearts, and

that success is near. Their souls rejuvenated, their will resolved. In the

distance their sight caught by a cohesive correlation of greens, their

hearing caressed by trickling water throwing its self onto the waterways

of vegetation. So they hasted, and raced and when they approached it,

they were mesmerized by its trees, and astonished by its fruits, and

enchanted by its streams. So what great gardens are these? What

marvelous oasis is this? They are the gardens of virtue and the oasis of

faith, plentiful shade, sweet water, pleasant breezes, and easy picking.

Labor in it is joyful, sincerity illuminant, and honesty is with happiness.

No sorrow befalls who enters, no regret by who works in it. These are

gardens of true happiness, initiated by Allah for those who love him,

created by Allah for those who desire bliss, established by Allah for

those who want salvation in the low life and the end.

1 Qura