Audio of Illahi’s Brought to you by the Osmanli Naksibendi-Hakkani Tariqat
under the direction of Sheykh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi
with ijazaat and instruction from Maulana Sheykh Nazim al-Haqqani
Rough Translation here:
Uways al-Qarani
by Yunus Emre
Urum’da Acem’de a,sïk oldugum
Yemen ellerinde Veysel Karani
Allah’ïn habibi dostum dedigim
Yemen ellerinde Veysel Karani
In Byzantium, in Persia, I have been a wandering minstrel of love.
In the land of Yemen——Uways al-Qarani.
I have said, the beloved of Allah is my friend.
In the land of Yemen——Uways al-Qarani.
Anasïndan destur aldï durmadï
Kabe yollarïnï geçti boyladï
Geldi ol Resul’u evde bulmadï
Yemen ellerinde Veysel Karani
He took permission from his mother; he felt bound to do so.
He traversed the roads going to the Ka`bah.
He came to the Prophet’s house, but didn’t find him there.
In the land of Yemen——Uways al-Qarani.
Peygamber mescitten evine geldi
Veys’in nurunu kapïda gördü
Sordu Fatima’ya “eve kim geldi”
Yemen ellerinde Veysel Karani
The Prophet came home from the mosque;
He saw Uways’s light at the door.
He asked Fatimah, “Who came to the house?”
In the land of Yemen——Uways al-Qarani.
Yunus eydür “gelin biz de varalïm”
Ayagï tozuna yüzler sürelim
Hak nasib eylesin kom,su olalïm
Yemen ellerinde Veysel Karani
Come now, Yunus, and let’s be there!
Let’s rub the dust of his feet on our faces.
May God give us the good fortune to be his neighbors.
In the land of Yemen——Uways al-Qarani.
(The story goes that Uways al-Qarani embraced Islam in Yemen, and greatly desired to travel to Medina to meet Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. But his old mother wanted him to stay home and take care of her. She gave him permission to go on the condition that as soon as he got to the Prophet’s house, he would turn around and come RIGHT BACK without going anyplace else. As the song tells, the Prophet happened to be out when he reached there. But Uways was obedient to the promise he’d made to his mother, so he never did get to meet the Prophet. For his love for the Prophet and his filial piety, he was raised to the same spiritual station as the Sahabah, the Prophet’s Companions. The concept is that he received his initiation into sainthood in a purely spiritual way, without a face-to-face meeting. So when a Sufi receives by the grace of God a spiritual initiation without contact with a shaykh, he is said to be an “Uwaysi.”)
yursil on 
syed fareed amad on 
burhan on 
Australian Muslim on 
Ghulam Rasool on 
Abdul Malik on 
Abdul Jabbar on 
selamalaykum
isn’t this traditional ottoman music rather than calling it traditional islamic? I thought islamic was only the duff?
ma salama
Salaams Yursil,
Jazak Allah for this beautiful music. O Yunus Emre! O Uways al-Karani!
Allah bless Shaykh Abdal Karim Effendi, and Mevlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani for this.
Abdur Rahman
BismillahirRahmanirRaheem
Salamu’alaykum Assad,
Spiritual music with a variety of instruments have been part of Islamic tradition for centuries. Even being discussed in Imam Ghazali’s time.
Salamu’alaikum Abdu Rahman!
I am glad you are enjoying the sama’
-Yursil
Salaams sidi Yursil,
I pray all is well with you and your family.
“Spiritual music with a variety of instruments have been part of Islamic tradition for centuries.”
sidi, i always wanted to ask the naqsbandi [hakkanis] regarding their position on the spiritual music; the brothers who adhere to the mujaddidi silsilah strictly consider it to be bida (if not haram) and usually cite the great fountain head of the naqsbandi silsilah Imam Rabbani (r.a.) on this matter.
I would appreciate if you could render some thoughts on this issue from the perspective of your silsilah.
jazakallahu khairan,
BismillahirRahmairRahim
Salamu’alaykum Abu Hudayr,
First and foremost, I am no one to answer your question. But this little bit came to me…
Excerpted from Beads of Dew from the Source of Life (Rashahat Ain al-Hayat), one of the primary Naksibendi Texts of all Naksibendi silsila’s:
Therefore the truth is the spiritual music has been accepted within Islam for centuries, but indeed there were certain groups that forbade it completely and that made it controversial.
The wisdom in that is that in certain times certain things are not appropriate and in others they can be necessary. Similarly, in Imam Rabbani’s time it may not have been appropriate we must consider the context and circumstances which he faced.
Every type of surgeon knows what tools are used at what part of the procedure.
The power of the Awliya is to be able to know what is best for a people considering their station and their surroundings. Those who lock themselves into some belief that they have understood a universal truth have forgotten themselves.
For those of us today who hear secular music at every turn, even if it is involuntary, our souls are touched by knowledge of its existence in ways we cannot truly comprehend. Just knowing its existance puts us in a different category than someone like Imam Rabbani who was never exposed to it.
The illiterate man knows not the pleasure of reading a good book. The literate man may busy himself with nonsense words, or the literate man may pretend he cannot read. One is unwise and the other is insincere. Finally he may decide to read what is beneficial to him.
In our day and age, the Shaykhs have opened this up, promoted this as a means to call people to remember Allah. It is one weapon in their arsenal.
If it was completely forbidden, like alcohol (as people make it out to be) it would have hardly survived and developed within the Muslim world, much less be open and celebrated as the tradition of Ottoman Ilahi’s. Beyond that it would not have made it to the texts of the Naksibendi’s.
Although my personal opinion is shadeed in terms of strings and winds – I am no person to rule over real muftis and scholars. I had heard this qasidah before and you guys do a beautiful rendition. I love the narration. Barakallahu feek. Although if you had a non instrumental rendition…I’d greatly appreciate it from you
Salaam Aalaikum WR WB. I clicked on the rough translation and it doesn’t lead to any translation. I would appreciate it if you could update it or post a translation here in comments. Jazak Allah Khair. Salaam Aalaikum WR WB.
we
have a beautiful religion and we all must value it ALLAHU AKBAR!This song is very nice
Salam u Alaykum brother Yursil,
This is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard
Salaamu Aalaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. Jazak Allah Khair for the translations akhi. Allah Razi Olsun, Was Salaamu Aalaikum.