Glad Tidings of Good Things

Description

This brief yet comprehensive work is a compilation of salawat by Sayyiduna ‘Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, popularly known as Basha’ir al-Khairat. It is a superlative set of thirty prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ intertwined with almost seventy verses of the Qur’an that gives hope and encouragement to twenty-seven types of Muslims. In the introduction of this work, it is reported that the noble Shaykh said to one of his brethren in Allah (Exalted is He): Accept these invocations of blessing [salawat] from me, for I received them by way of inspiration [ilham] from Allah (Exalted is He), then I presented them to the Prophet a. I intended to ask him about their special merit, but he answered me before I asked him, and he said to me: They have a special merit that is something too tremendous to be calculated. They raise those who adopt them to the highest degrees and cause them to reach the farthest goals. If someone seeks to achieve some purpose by them, he will not be turned away disappointed. His idea will not be frustrated, and his supplication will not be rejected. If someone recites them, even one time only, or carries them with him, Allah will grant forgiveness to him and to those who are with him in his company. When his final moment is at hand, four of the angels of mercy will be present beside him. The first will keep Satan away from him. The second will inspire him to utter the profession of faith [kalimat ashshahada]. The third will quench his thirst with a cup from the River of Abundance [al-Kawthar]. The fourth will hold in his hand a vessel of gold, filled with the fruits of the Garden of Paradise, giving him the glad tidings of a dwelling in the Garden, and saying to him: Be of good cheer, O servant of Allah! So he will look at Him and see Him with his eye, before his spirit departs. He will enter his grave with a feeling of security, happy and cheerful, and he will experience no loneliness and no confinement therein. Forty doorways of mercy will be opened for him, and the like thereof of light. When he is raised up on the Day of Resurrection, an angel will bring him good news from his right, and an angel will reassure him from his left. He will be dressed in two fine garments, and a well-bred steed will be guided to him for him to ride. He will suffer no distress and no remorse, and he will be subjected to an easy reckoning. When he passes across the Bridge of Hell, the Fire will say to him: Make a quick escape, O emancipated slave of Allah! I am forbidden to touch you. He will enter the Garden of Paradise in the company of the righteous forebears, and in the Garden he will be given forty domes of white silver. Each dome will contain a palace of gold, and in each palace there will be one hundred pavilions made of light. In each pavilion there will be a raised couch made of silk brocade, and upon each raised couch there will be a maiden, one of the houries with those lovely eyes. Her body will consist of the most fragrant perfume, as if it were the full moon of the night of his consummation. Then he will be given that which no eye has ever seen, of which no ear has ever heard, and which has never occurred to the heart of a human being.