The Dzikr of the Heart & the Value of Basmallah

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is adapted from the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.). 

Once, daily, we must listen to our dzikr of the heart.  When we listen, we can hear our heart saying, “Allah, Allah, Allah …”  This is an important wird, more important than the dzikr of the tongue.  This gives concentration to the whole body.  The best time to do this is after midnight, at tahajjud.  First pray, two raka’at, then sit and listen to the dzikr of the heart.  Our concentration will grow from this point to where that dzikr, the remembrance of our Lord, will be with us 24 hours a day. 

Shaykh Nazhim (q.s.) said we must be grateful, we are not in a war, we are healthy, and we have so many things while so many people are suffering.  They asked Shaykh Nazhim (q.s.) how he could provide for so many people visiting and staying at the zawiyah in Lefke every day since he is not working.  He said, “With ‘Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim; may Allah (s.w.t.) not Take the Basmallah out of our hearts!  Whoever does not use the Basmallah cannot save himself from bala’, and the biggest bala’ is to forget to say ‘Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim’.  May Allah (s.w.t.) not Make us forget it.” 

Shaykh ‘Abdillah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani (q.s.) said, “All ways are closed except one, and that is to say ‘Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim’ with every movement.”  If not, nothing works.  Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim is the only key for all mankind.  It has a special tajalli.  Every locked door opens with Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. 

During the Mi’raj, the Night of Ascension, Jibril (a.s.) accompanied the Prophet (s.a.w.).  There was a place, a maqam, where there was a gate so magnificent that it cannot be measured.  And the Prophet (s.a.w.) was overwhelmed.  From Allah’s (s.w.t.) Wisdom, the tajalli over that gate, its colours and majesty change all the time.  It is a door belonging to the spiritual world.  The tajalli over that door changes constantly up to eternity and its beauties add one over the other.  May Allah (s.w.t.) Open to us such a door.  It is like entering a palace.  There are private doors that belong to the Sulthan; you have to wait in front of that door, and maybe it never opens for you.  Only for the Master.  The Prophet (s.a.w.) saw that the door had a lock on it.  It is not like any lock we know.  It is a magnificent lock.  Colours enter from it like flashes, like lightning. 

He asked the archangel, “To where does it open?” 

“It opens to Allah’s (s.w.t.) Tajalli.” 

The Prophet asked in his heart to see what was behind that door, and he asked Jibril (a.s.), “Can we open that door?” 

The angel said, “Yes, you may see what is behind because everything was Created for you.” 

“I would like to,” said the Prophet (s.a.w.), “but where is the key?” 

‘The key has already been Given to you,” said the angel.  The Prophet (s.a.w.) did know but from the adab that a servant of Allah (s.w.t.) has with his Lord, he waited for the answer to come from the angel to him.  A servant does not just enter the Presence of the Sulthan, so even though the Prophet (s.a.w.) knew how to enter, he waited for Divine Permission.  The angel said, “The key is to say, ‘Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim.’” 

When the Prophet said these words, the lock was unlocked and the magnificent door was opened, and he saw visions that are indescribable, not to be spoken of by any tongue.  Can one count the rays of the sun?  And who could approach the sun itself?  Allah’s (s.w.t.) Greatness is such that no one is able to approach His Majesty.  What did the Prophet (s.a.w.) see behind the door?  He saw four springs of endless beauty.  From where, did they spring?  He saw them spring from a writing: Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, and no one can see to where they flow.  The Basmallah contains three Holy Names of Allah (s.w.t.) and he who says it will drink from these four fountains.  The people of Paradise drink from them; water, milk, honey and wine flow from them through each single Paradise.  No one will suffer from thirst.  And he who reads Surah al-Fatiha in one breath will drink from those fountains in that maqam.  Shaykh Nazhim (q.s.) says he can only speak about some of the blessings that the Basmallah contains. 

He who respects the Basmallah will be Honoured, and neither in dunya nor in barzakh nor on the Day of Judgment, will he have problems.  There was one woman who used to say Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim no matter what she did.  Her husband got annoyed, and he asked her why she said that all the time.  She answered, “When I say it, Allah (s.w.t.) Looks after me, Provides for me, and everything is Made Easy for me.” 

He decided to test her and later gave her some money, asking her to keep it for him. She took the money with the Basmallah, put it in a box which she hid in a special place.  The man knew the place.  Later on, he took the money out secretly and hid it in a well.  After some time, the man said to his wife, “I need the money that I gave you for safekeeping.  Please bring it to me.” 

His wife went and opened the box.  And with the Basmallah on her lips, she put her hand inside and took the money out.  It was dripping with water.  She was surprised.  She brought the money to him and he was ashamed.  She asked him, “What did you do with the money?  I hid it in that box in that place, and it could never get wet.” 

He kissed her hand and said, “O my wife, may Allah (s.w.t.) be Pleased with you.  You have made me ashamed.  You have taught me the value of the Basmallah.”