The pen falters when attempting to give due reverence to the most exalted of all creation, our Master and Guide, the Chosen One, Muhammad ibn Abdillah—peace and blessings be upon him, his pure family, and his noble companions. The Mawlid of the Prophet ﷺ is not a mere commemoration of a historical event; it is a sacred invocation, a remembrance of mercy itself being unveiled to the worlds, a light that shattered the darkness of ignorance, and a reality that continues to illuminate the hearts of those who seek nearness to their Lord.
Among those whose words have preserved this luminous heritage is Sayyidi Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, the reviver and radiant pole of spiritual guidance. His Mawlid al-Rasul al-Azam is not a literary embellishment, nor a mere historical narrative, but an ocean of devotion from which the seekers of truth may drink. It is a vessel of gnosis, a text that interweaves sacred history, divine wisdom, and the fragrance of unseen realities that only the purified can perceive.
To read this Mawlid is to stand at the threshold of prophetic love and majesty, to witness with the eye of the heart how the universe itself rejoiced at his birth. Every passage is a testament to the station of the Beloved ﷺ, a proof that his remembrance is neither bound by time nor confined by the limitations of earthly existence. Indeed, the Prophet ﷺ is the axis upon which all sacred meaning turns, and the soul that yearns for Allah finds no path except through his light.
Few figures in Islamic history embody both the majesty of inherited nobility and the earned distinction of spiritual authority as Sayyidi Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. He was not merely a descendant of the Prophet ﷺ in name but in essence—a scion whose legacy was built not on ancestry alone, but on knowledge, piety, and service to Allah. His bloodline, however, carries an undeniable weight. Born into a household that traced its descent through both of the Prophet’s grandsons—al-Hasan and al-Husayn—he stands as a rare confluence of the two sacred lineages that diverged after Karbala, uniting in him the wisdom of the elders of Quraysh and the resilience of the household of prophecy.
From his father, Abu Salih Musa al-Hasani, he inherited the nobility of Sayyiduna al-Hasan ibn Ali, whose patience and forbearance preserved the unity of the Ummah at a time of political discord. From his mother, Umm al-Khayr Fatimah al-Husayniyyah, his lineage extends to Sayyiduna al-Husayn ibn Ali, the embodiment of unwavering truth and sacrifice. Thus, Sayyidi Abd al-Qadir was neither merely Hasani nor solely Husayni—he was both, the living testament to a heritage of leadership that was never sought for power but for the guidance of hearts.
Yet, unlike those who wear lineage as an ornament, he saw it as a responsibility. He did not demand reverence for the blood that ran in his veins but commanded it through his actions. He stood not as a relic of a bygone nobility but as its truest continuation—not in palaces or courts, but in the company of the devoted, the seekers of knowledge, and those who renounced this world for the next. His legacy is not one of names recorded in genealogical scrolls, but of principles upheld, knowledge preserved, and hearts transformed.
A scion of prophets, unbowed and serene,
No sceptre he carries, no tribute he craves.
Yet nobler by birth than the loftiest queen,
Unfettered by courts and unmoved by their waves.
He rivals no monarch, nor stoops to their grace,
His honour untarnished, his lineage his throne.
With wisdom his raiment, with virtue his place,
A grandeur unshaken, a grace all his own.
No grievance he bears for the dues left unpaid,
No claim does he press for the wealth of his line.
His honour alone is the coin that is weighed,
A splendour eternal, a grace most divine.
No privilege claimed from the blood in his veins,
No fortune unearned does he dare to extol.
Through vigils of ink and the scholar’s hard pains,
He sculpted his mind and perfected his soul.
No prince would he envy, nor king’s fleeting might,
No title could tempt him, no splendour deceive.
A scholar he stands, ever robed in the light,
For merit, not birthright, has taught him to weave.
He calls it but grace, no entitlement known,
Yet shuns not the toil that has lifted him high.
Let none in their whispers dare merit disown,
For learning, not lineage, has placed him nigh.
No grievance he bears for the dues left unpaid,
No claim does he press for the wealth of his line.
His honour alone is the coin that is weighed,
A splendour eternal, a grace most divine.
Yet still, though he spurns both the crown and its claim,
A loftier birthright no sovereign could own.
For bearing that lineage is glory, not gain,
A beacon unquenched, in its grandeur alone.
Yet, to speak of Sayyidi Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani is not to invoke an isolated figure, but to evoke a living tradition, one carried by those whose voices often remain unheard amidst the clamour of worldly ambitions. The Hanabilah, though always a minority, have never been concerned with the dominion of this fleeting world. Unlike those who sought recognition in the courts of rulers or positions of influence, the truest bearers of this path walked in the footsteps of the ascetics and the sincere—those who desired neither status nor acclaim, but only the countenance of their Lord.
Sayyidi Abd al-Qadir, though revered across lands and followed by multitudes, remains at his core the embodiment of the Hanbali spirit that refused to be ensnared by the world’s illusions. His legacy has transcended generations, his name recited by millions, yet the purest representation of his path resides within the core of the Hanbali Madhhab, where his teachings were neither diluted nor reshaped to appease prevailing trends. The spiritual path he upheld was not a departure from traditional scholarship, nor a divergence from the rigour of the Athari creed, but rather its most refined and perfected manifestation.
For those of us who inherit this ethos, celebrating the Sufi works of Sayyidi Abd al-Qadir is not merely an act of devotion, but an assertion of what it means to have a voice—to persist in a world that often forgets those who do not seek to conquer it. His teachings are not relics of a bygone age, nor ornamental flourishes for mystics to claim, but a beacon for the sincere, a path for those who stand firm upon their principles, and a testament to the truth that spiritual authority is not measured by numbers, but by authenticity. His way is not for those who pursue influence, but for those who, like him, understand that the greatest station is found in servitude to Allah alone.
The significance of this work is not only in its content but in its author. Sayyidi Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, the Sultan of the Awliya, was not a man of empty utterances, nor one who spoke without being deeply immersed in the realities of that which he conveyed. His words resonate with sincerity, for they emerge from a heart that dwelled in the Divine presence. His Mawlid is an inheritance of the people of love (ahl al-mahabba), those whose souls are enraptured by the majesty of the Messenger ﷺ.
In presenting this work, we are not merely republishing a historical text; we are reviving a beacon that continues to illuminate the path of those who seek truth. May this Mawlid awaken within us the love, reverence, and obedience that befits the station of Allah’s Beloved ﷺ. And may those who recite it find their hearts drawn ever closer to the mercy it praises, until they, too, become vessels of light in the world.
May Allah send infinite blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, his family, and his companions. And may He grant us the honour of true love and nearness to him in this life and the next.
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