.. God loves them and they love God ..- The Quran 5:54
He who loves Me, knows Me,
and He who knows Me, finds Me.
- traditional sufi saying
Only Allah is your Wali (friend /guide) ... - The Quran 5:55
The word, 'Habib' or 'Habeeb' means the one who is loved, beloved one. Its the same in ancient hebrew and arabic language which can also be translated as "dearly loved".
The Last Messenger Muhammad who is the seal of Prophethood after whom no other new Messenger will be sent to humanity, embodied the pinnacle of evolution of Prophethood, thus his rank as Habib-Allah also indicates the most saught after rank. To become the beloved of God is the ultimate destination for the seeker because all other relationship with Divine ranks lower than the relationship of being the beloved of God (Habib Allah).
Wayfarer's Rest blog posted a beautiful piece on the inner essence of the term, "Habib Allah" from where i quote a selection:
There are so many mysteries and subtle points of spirituality locked into the Arabic language, it's awe-inspiring. Firstly, the form of the word: habib is on the scale of fa`il, which conveys two meanings in Arabic. The first is of ism al-maf`ul - the passive participle. On this scale, the meaning of habib is 'beloved.'
The second is that of ism al-mubalagha - the intensive noun. On this scale, the meaning of habib is 'the intensely loving.' (from the Zurqani's commentary of al-Mawahib al-Ladunniyya). Thus this single word speaks volumes to the discerning viewer about the reciprocal nature of the loving relationship that exists between Creator and His most perfect Creation.
... Muhammad Rasulullah (s) is both lover and beloved - a perfect union of celestial bliss and perfection. In his oceanic love for his Creator, he sets up a paradigmic example to us for exactly what should be the nature of man's relationship to the divine.
He used to pray in communion with his Lord until his blessed feet swelled because of the length of his standing, and when asked why he even needed to - since Allah had already forgiven him any possible slip - he replied merely, 'should I not be a thankful servant?' Though he - of all creation - who passed through the veils of light to approach ultimate knowledge of his Creator (al-ma`rifa billah), attained the rank where he was blessed with, 'a time with my Lord, upon which neither Prophet-Messenger nor Angel-brought-near may encroach,' still he cried, 'Oh Lord, forgive! I cannot praise you as you deserve to be praised!'
Yet so too is he Beloved of Allah, receiving His Lord's unceasing, uncountable salawat - which is love conjoined with mercy, magnification and intimacy; and the salawat of His angelic hosts, so numerous that, 'there is not a point in all the seven heavens that is not occupied by a glorifying angel.' And in this, too, is a clarion sign for us, that - if he is deserving of the love of His Infinite Lord, how much more so is he deserving of our love and salawat - which is veneration, respect and an appeal to Allah to raise him yet closer to His ineffable presence. What kind of being is he that - yet a man born of woman, he commands such a position in the eyes of the Lord of Might and Glory?
Allah says with his Divine speech (a hadith qudsi): "when I love someone, I call Gibril (Archangel Gabriel) and say, 'oh Gibril, I love this person, so you too must love him.' Then He orders Gibril to travel throughout the heavens and the earth, proclaiming, 'oh creation! This person is beloved of Allah, so you too must love him/her.' "
Every characteristic and quality that the human soul inclines towards, yearns for and is nourished by - compassion, wisdom, truth, justice, humility, kindness, love, tranquility - are embodied completely, perfectly and paradigmically in the most Blessed Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him. All that we find appealing, beautiful or attractive - to the soul, not merely the nafs - find their ultimate manifestation in him (s). As Allah says, 'verily, I swear that you are indeed upon the absolutely supreme paradigm of created character' (wa innaka la `ala khuluqin `azim - which contains no less than six particles of emphasis (ta'kid) in Arabic. ... [>] Read the full post (habib allah pt 1)
"My God, give me Thy Love and the love of him who loves Thee and the love of that action which will bring me nearer to Thee and make Thy Love sweeter than cold water to the thirsty". - prayer of the blessed Prophet Muhammad
God has said: "My saints are those who cry like a child for my love ..."- Hadisi-Qudsi
# Further Read:
. Love of God and its signs
. The Paradoxes of Love by Llewellyn Vaughan Lee
. A study of the word Love in Quran
image credit: heart nebula
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