Dearest Family,

Six weeks after right knee surgery, I traveled to Lama Foundation for our Annual Ruhaniat Jamiat Aam. As most of you know my teaching companions were all “next gen” treasures of our lineage. Baqia Diana Lyon, Maitreya Jon Stevens and Arjun Jorge Calero. Luckily my legs served me well, and gave me the opportunity to walk holding arms with so many people, up and down the hill!

Naturally, we had a wonderful retreat with over 75 in attendance from many nations, US, Kazakhstan, Japan, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, the largest gathering at Lama for more than a decade!

Teaching with our next gen treasures was my way of declaring to our lineage family that we are in the midst of empowering the next generation of leaders of the Ruhaniat, the very capable treasure beings to continue our precious lineage. As I said to those gathered, I feel ever so grateful that we have such wonderful beings ready to carry on. Baqia, Maitreya and Arjun gave wonderful teachings, full of love and baraka - it was a delight.

And how sweet to have many next gen leaders from around the world. I gave two initiations while at Murshid SAM’s Dargah. One to Taj Martel, empowering her as a sufi guide. Taj was born into a Sufi family around the Abode of the Message, and is now married with seven children of her own. We also welcomed Akmaral Tazhigarina, the Ruhaniat’s first mureed from Kazakhstan!

Tamam’s surgery was a complete success and she is slowly healing from the surgery itself, which will likely take at least the next month or two. And after the summer I plan to have the left knee replacement surgery.

There is still time to join us and register for our 51st Annual Mendocino Sufi Camp. And for our locals, join us for Zikr this Thursday, July 10, at our Novato location.

For our next wazifa let’s use the same trio of wazifas as the directors of Mendo Camp have been using in preparing for camp, which we can add our blessings to: YA WAHHAB, YA RAZZAQ, YA FATTAH.

Much love,

Shabda

Wazifa Practice  

Recite 101x

YA WAHHAB ~ YA RAZZAQ ~ YA FATTAH

16. Ya Wahhab (yaa wah-HAAB)

Al-Wahhab gives divine blessings continually and universally. It is a flow that is without disruption and which is freely given without any expectation of return. It is the one who constantly refreshes. There is no restraint based on scarcity, as its source is super-abundant. A form from the same root, mawhibah, is a cloud that rains freely on everything. Another form, mawhoob, is a child or any blessing given to you by God.

By invoking Ya Wahhab you become identified with a stream flowing continuously from the divine source, and everything you need in life is already fully present and flowing in that stream. It is closely related to Ya Razzaq (17) and Ya Fattah (18). In the sound code of the Arabic language, all three share a form that conveys continuous activity.

There is a developmental aspect in considering these three Names together. Al-Wahhab is the free rain that is given to all. Ar-Razzaq is the water that flows into irrigation ditches. Al-Fattah is all the fruit you harvest from all the trees you've irrigated. In other words, Al-Wahhab is a free gift; ar-Razzaq offers the means for achieving abundance; al-Fattah is the continuing action of all that will be accomplished.

17. Ya Razzaq (yaa raz-ZAAḲ)

Ar-Razzaq is the one who continuously provides the means for each of us to get what we need for our daily sustenance, our bread and butter. The noun rizq, formed from its root, means a gift of blessing from which all can benefit. The adage "The bounty of the dates can be seen at the bottom of the well" illustrates the meaning of ar-Razzaq. If you make use of the water of the well and draw it up and irrigate your palm trees every day, you will get the dates.

There are endless opportunities to benefit from the divine gifts that are offered by ar-Razzaq, and endless ways to make them available to others. Ar-Razzaq is also seen in a person's openness to receive divine provenance. The word al-arzaaq means "endless gifts." The truly endless gifts are the gifts of rahma: compassion, mercy, and love. The one who always gives these gifts has an infinite supply in treasure houses of infinite love. 

18. Ya Fattah (yaa fat-TAAḤ)

Al-Fattah means both to begin and to open. Through it you begin to open your heart to the infinite possibilities of the divine presence. With al-Fattah, the opening is continuous. It is an enlightenment that keeps happening. Al-Fattah brings great power to clear the way of obstacles and open the path of your life for success. It is the one who opens the heart to love and ecstasy.

Al-Fattah means to open something with something else, a key. It is the key to opening the heart to Allah, the key to finding the God within. Reciting Ya Fattah is a very powerful practice because, even in the midst of despair, it brings the possibility of awakening to love and ecstasy. Its activity in us is opening up the veils of darkness over the heart to uncover the light within. Al-Fattah is the continuous action of all that will be accomplished. Invocation of Ya Fattah sets up the dynamic of going deeper and deeper in the process of opening.

To hear the pronunciation: Ya Wahhab ~ Ya Razzaq ~ Ya Fattah

Text and Commentary to Study

This month we finish studying the Gatha: Kashf: Insight, Series II of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan with commentary by Murshid Samuel Lewis. Read pages 36 -44

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Kashf: Insight, Series 2

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