The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship
Online Library
A Song by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen: Baghdad
*
Length: 9 min. 48 sec.
Format: Streaming Real Audio
Translation: None
CD Name: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Sings
* Note: you will need Real Audio Player in order to open Real Audio files. You can download Real Audio Player free from RealAudio.com.
Note from the publisher:
In this song Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen sings of Baghdad and the ruler of Baghdad.
Baghdad represents the heart of a human being.
The true ruler of Baghdad is not a person but rather the state of purity, which exists within each person’s heart. This purity is known as Muhaiyaddeen. The name Muhaiyaddeen refers to the Treasure that existed from the beginning, the ancient treasure that was and always will be with Allah (God). Muhaiyaddeen is also known as the Qutb, the one who reveals the wisdom that lies buried under illusion, revives the life of that wisdom, and imparts it to others. It is to that wisdom of purity that Allah gave the name Muhaiyaddeen.
O Ruler of Baghdad
Song from Gnana Oli Malai
by
M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
Refrain
(To be repeated after each verse)
O Ruler of Baghdad, O most endowed One,
Will you grant me the station of Divine Wisdom?
O Most Illustrious One, of beautiful qualities and justice,
O Muhaiyaddeen, will you grant eternal peace?
Verses
1
O Light of God, who made the great sorcerer flying in the sky
To fall at the feet and die,
O precious fruit, so pleasing to my eye,
Your compassion resplends with the brilliance of the 'nine gems'.
2
Long ago you journeyed to Maldive Islands
And imprisoned the cowering demon in a phial.
With faith you sow the seed of Din
And nourish the path of eternal victory.
3
O Golden One, who retrieved the ship that was lost and sunken
twelve years ago,
You are the lion of victory, so dear to my eye,
Who, with wisdom, proclaims far and wide
The teaching of the prophets.
4
O Light of Nine Gems, who received most beautifully
The merit of the exalted True One,
O my Lord, what will I do
If you turn your face away from this poor sinner?
5
Tears flow from my eyes in my longing for you.
O Muhaiyaddeen, please protect me and grace me
So that all my burdens may go away.
Let me see your feet and praise you in song.
6
Let my heart know the five Kalimahs
Taught by the True One in my qalb.
O most praiseworthy Nabi, our Guru,
May we offer our salams to you in heavenly bliss?
7
O Lamp of the Qalb, our beloved Guru Nabi,
You appear to me in my heart
Effusing the fragrance of incense and sandalwood
And the fragrance of roses and jasmine.
O Ruler of Baghdad, O most endowed One,
Will you grant me the station of Divine Wisdom?
O Most Illustrious One, of beautiful qualities and justice,
O Muhaiyaddeen, will you grant me eternal peace?
*Compilers note: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen sang this song many, many times. It is
filled with meaning and explains the role of the Qutb In our lives. It may
well be considered his signature song.
This explanation of the song, O Ruler of Baghdad. was given by M. R. Bawa
Muhaiyaddeen in Sri Lanka in 1974. He related that the song tells of an actual
historical event as well as being the archetypal story of our experience in
this world.
Baghdad refers to the heart. The singer addresses the one who rules the heart,
"O Divine Wisdom, grant us the grace and beneficence of gnanam. Gnanam is
truth. O one of great wealth, you are endowed with the wealth of perfectly
pure compassionate love and justice. Please grant us happiness and comfort
forever.
In the first verse the muni, or sorcerer, is the mind which has the great
power of illusion. It travels swiftly through space. The singer asks, "O Light
of God, fruit of my heart, so dear to my eye of wisdom, exalted in love and
compassion and shining with the splendor of the nine most precious gems, make
that sorcerer fall unconscious at the feet of Divine Luminous Wisdom.'
In the second verse, Divine Wisdom goes through the illusory mind, the Maldive
Islands, into the qalb, the innermost heart, and makes the demons of the mind,
the elements, falter and lose consciousness. With faith, certitude and determination,
he captures and controls these demons and imprisons them in a phial, or bottle.
The third verse says that by the time we are twelve years old, the original
grace, truth and wisdom which God gave us is lost and sunken in the ocean
of illusion. The singer says, "O Golden One, our Qutb,' one who is endowed
with Divine Analytic Wisdom, you are the one who retrieves these original
gifts and returns them to us. You are so dear to the eye of wisdom. You are
the 'lion of victory,' the lion grace and wisdom who proclaims the truth:
the truth of God, the truth of grace and the truth of wisdom. You are the
one who explains the teachings brought by the prophets and messengers of God."
In the fourth verse, the singer again addresses the Qutb and says, "O Qutb,
resplendent light, you are filled with the most beautiful qualities of shyness,
reserve, fear of wrongdoing, modesty, justice, conscience, kingly justice,
God's justice, patience, gratitude and giving all trust to God. Having all
of these qualities, will you not help us and protect us? O exalted one, we
are born as sinners. If you do not help us, who will?"
In the sixth verse, the singer asks, "Help me to know the five Kalimas," and
the five letters (alif, lam, mim, ha dal) with which God has created everything.
O our praiseworthy, pure teacher who has no beginning or end, O messenger
of God, with great joy we offer greetings and prayers to you in our hearts."
In the final verse, the singer asks, "O light of the gem of my heart, O lamp
of grace to my eye of wisdom, you exude the fragrance of roses, incense and
sandalwood. O Gurunabi light of my heart, O one of limitless fragrance, joy,
beauty and beautiful qualities, please reveal yourself to me."
Back to top
Note to the Reader: Din -
(Arabic) The light or path of perfect purity; the resplendence of pure faith.
Literally -religion, path, faith.
Long ago - This event actually took place. It also happens that, always, at
the correct time and in the appropriate manner, the 'Ruler of the Heart',
Divine Analytic Wisdom, comes to the aid of those who seek salvation and truth.
True One - This refers to God and is a translation of the Arabic word, Haqq
(Truth), one of the ninety-nine most beautiful names of God.
lord - Here, this term addresses Muhaiyaddeen and means teacher of divine
wisdom, guru or master.
Qalb - (Arabic) The innermost heart.
Nabi - (Arabic) Prophet.
Salams - (Arabic) Greetings of Peace.
Qutb - One endowed with divine analytic wisdom, the wisdom which
explains; that which measures the length and breadth of the seven oceans of
the base desires; that which awakens all the truths which have been destroyed
and buried in the ocean of maya, or illusion; that which awakens true iman
(faith, certitude and determination) and the boat of life which has been buried
in the ocean of illusion; that which awakens the twelve gifts, or weapons
which assist the Qutb to perform this duty; that which explains to the life
the state of purity in which it existed at the beginning of creation; the
grace of God which awakens the life of purity and transforms it into divine
vibration. One endowed with that which exists within the power of Allah as
the vibration of the Qutbiyyat. The Light that explains; the One who rules
the heart."
Lion of Victory - The Light which consumes everything else. Nothing can stand
up to this Light.
Five Kalimahs - Affirmations of faith which express the concept La illaha
ill-Allahu : There is nothing other than You, O God. Only You are God.
There are five commonly used variations of this affirmation. These recitations
or remembrances of God cut away the influence of the five elements (earth,
fire, water, air and ether), and wash away all the karma that has accumulated
from the very beginning until now, dispel the darkness, and beautify the heart
and make it resplend. This washing of the body and heart of man makes him
pure, makes his wisdom emerge, and that wisdom impels man to know himself
and to know God.
Alif, lam, mim, ha, dal - Five Arabic letters. To the transformed man of wisdom,
these letters represent the following: alit' - God, Allah; lam - the light
of wisdom; mim - Muhammad; ha' and dal - refers to the body of the five elements,
to the hidden or secret and the manifest of creation, and to the mind and
desire.
Gurunabi - The one who exists as the highest station of Divine Wisdom
and is both teacher (Guru) and prophet (Nabi) to all people.