We belong to Allah and unto Him is our return:
The venerable Tok Guru or headmaster of the school of Pondok Lubok Tapahin Kelantan State, Malaysia, Tok Guru Haji Abdullah ibn `Abd al-Rahman,passed away last week on the morning of 11 Rabi` al-Awwal 1429 / 19 March 2008. He was nearing eighty years of age, may Allah Most High have mercy on him and grant him the highest Paradise.
Haji `Abd Allah received a handwritten ijaza in Muharram 1377 / August1957 from his teacher Musnid al-`Asr Shaykh Ya Sin al-Fadani which thelatter wrote for him inside a copy of his edition of al-Amir al-Kabir'sThabat entitled Sadd al-Arab min `Ulum al-Isnadi wal-Adab. He showed methis ijaza when I visited him in his house a few years ago.
Shaykh Muhammad `Afifi kindly provided me with a list of Shaykh Abdullah's teachers which the latter saw and corrected and which Idocumented. Shaykh Abdullah and Sayyid Muhammad ibn `Alawi al-Maliki share the same Arab teachers, particularly the latter's father Sayyid`Alawi, from whom Shaykh Abdullah told me he narrated the Kutubal-Sitta.
Following is a synopsis of the list of Haji Abdullah's non-Arab teachers:
- Pa'-Daa-`Eel (= acronym of "our father and paternal uncle Isma`il")Isma`il ibn `Abd al-Qadir ibn Mustafa al-Fatani (1300-1385), one of themajor Javanese Shuyukh of Makka in the 20th century.-
Shaykh Dawud ibn Sulayman al-Kalantani (d. 1399) who also taught inMakka.-
Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir ibn `Abd al-Muttaklib al-Mandili al-Makki (d.1383).-
Shaykh Sulayman al-Ambuni who hailed from the island of Ambon,Indonesia.
- Shaykh Tengku (= "Emir") `Abd al-Jalil al-Indonisi.-
The muhaddith and Mufassir Shaykh Zakariyya ibn `Abd Allah al-Bila (d.1413) of Indonesia.-
Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Fatani.-
Shaykh `Abd al-Rahman ibn Dawud al-Fandur al-Fatani.-
Shaykh Mukhtar ibn `Abd al-Malik Amfanani al-Sufi al-Falakial-Mantiqi.
May Allah have mercy on them all and grant them the greatest thanks andrewards on behalf of the Umma of the Messenger of Allah, upon him and his House, Companions, and Excellent Followers blessings and peace!
Tok Guru Haji Abdullah ibn `Abd al-Rahman informed me that his teacherthe grammarian and poet Sayyid Muhammad Amin ibn Muhammad al-Kutubial-Husayni al-Makki al-Hanafi (d. 1404) declaimed:
The Birth is manifest to us as a Light Embodied,the name Ta Ha rises to fill the earth and sky,His light flows in all creatures so they beam,It shines in the face of darkness and smiles.It honors a land in which his birth took place- suffice you the sanctity of the House of Allah! -Ennobling it since he was first sent there,then dawned upon all ends - the magnificent Religion.. . .
The Chosen One's name was never paired with anotheramong creatures but the loftier and nobler emerged.It is enough Allah Most High gathered his name toHis Own Mighty Name in mention, so it came before all.And he possessed a pure mother and also a pure fatherand pure ancestors among all clans - behold to what son!
I wonder, when will I ever spend the night againin Tayba, the grove of the Beloved and the Sanctuary?When will I stand before the noble face as I invoke blessingsupon him with continuous greetings of peace?When can I submit my need, declaim my praiseof glory to him, formed of fine verses and orphaned pearl?There to obtain my goal - his good pleasure - and drinkthe cup of connection from his hand to quench my thirst,Hoping, supplicating Allah for victory and guidanceas I enter with those who sought al-Mustafa's sanctuary?I place in him immense aspirations, for he isa Prophet who came forth from all-illumining lightAnd there is not a day but he is present in mindand in the heart as Love itself - such pleasure and delight!
Truly I fear no harm today for Ihave made my praise of him my ladder to triumph.I have dedicated my heart and mind and thought to himand my reflection too. My work is to chisel and craft.I probe for him the sea of his attributes. It is all for him and from him - the lavish favor he himself is.Or how could a weak slave arriveto the highest firmament? How could this ever be?But truly I hope from him - as my means -his intercession for provision on the Day of Resurrection.Whoever has the Best of Any Two as his intercessoralights atop the constellations, there to camp.
Was-Salam,
GF Haddad
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