Dhikr - The Remembrance of the Divine
Aye! it is in the remembrance of Allah that hearts can find comfort;" Surat al-R'ad, 28
Dhikr is the method by which Stations yield their fruit, until the seeker reaches the Divine Presence. There is no way to reach the Divine Presence without the tree of Allah's Dhikr, and as long as that tree is glorified and praised and its trunk is deeply rooted in the heart, its fruit will ripen and its benefit will increase. It is the origin of all stations and the Base on which the Foundation will be built. It wakes the servant from his heedlessness, to begin seeking God, the Sublime and Majestic.
The shaykhs of the Sufi order are obeying their Lord by making more dhikr, and they are trying to imitate angels, as angels are always in the state of dhikr, praising God. That is why one of our shaykhs said,
"I remembered You because I forgot You for a moment, and the easiest way for me is to remember You on my tongue."
If the Sufi seeker will mention the Lord in every moment, peace will fill his heart, and he will find satisfaction in it, it will lift his spirit and his soul and he may be lucky to sit in the Presence of his Lord. Because the Prophet (s) said in an authentic hadith mentioned in Ahmad's Musnad,
"The people of Dhikr are the people of My Presence."
So the gnostic is the one who keeps the dhikr in his heart, and leaves behind the attachments to the worldly life.
The Forms of Dhikr
There are many forms of Dhikr in Sufism. Some involve movements, some involve loud chanting, some involve deep meditation in the heart. What is meant by Dhikr?
This is a question not easily answered. What have the shaykhs of the Way said about this subject? That itself is an Ocean.
Conclusion
So we see that Dhikr is the polishing the heart, and the key for the Divine breeze to revive the dead spirits by directing them to the Blessings of God, the Sublime and Majestic, and decorating them with His Attributess and bringing them from the state of heedlessness to the state of complete wakefulness. If we keep busy with Dhikrullah, happiness and peace will be granted to us, because Dhikr is the key of happiness and Dhikr is the key of joy and Dhikr is the key of Divine Love.
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