Ah! what to say about love today
it is a day that we must delay
love is to love the loved and pray
oh my beloved, what do thy say?

BismillahirRahmanirRahim

Riyad us Saliheen – 665

Ibn ‘Umar said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, say, ‘Anyone who removes his hand from
obedience will meet Allah on the Day of Rising with no proof. Anyone
who dies without having given Bayat will die the death of the
...Jahiliyya....

I was born in every century
This century I am born again
Every century I left a sign
This century I sign again

I came and held the Truth
The Truth I hold again
I spoke to only soothe
I speak to soothe again

The Truth is not thy nature
The Truth is thy essence
My nature is that if Truth
The Truth is that I spend

My birth oh! this century
My birth has come again
I am born in every nature
Not just the nature of men

(c)

The intellectual is always showing off
the lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away, afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone,
even surrounded by people;
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble
of giving advice to a lover
gets nothing. He's mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and lovers are its shade.

- {Maulana Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi = RahimahuLah}

The pious Maliki scholar Abdur Rahman al-Akhdari who died in the 10 century A.H mentions in his famous work known as al-Akhdari :

Prayer beholds an illuminating divine light which illuminates the hearts of those who perform prayer and none obtain it except those who humble themselves in fear before Allah (during prayer). If you therefore, come to perform prayer, empty your heart form all worldly matters and engage yourself in seeking awareness of your Lord for Whose Countenance you pray.

Keep in mind that Prayer in fact is a act of awe and humility before Allah, The Exalted by standing, bowing, prostrating. Likewise, unequalled respect and esteem for Him is shown by means of takbir, glorification (tasbih) and remembrance and adoration (thikr).

Thus, guard your prayer for it is the greatest form of worship. Do not allow Shaytan to play with your heart and distract you from your prayer thereby obliterating your heart and depriving you from tasting the divine light that prayer provides. Be forever mindful; humbling yourself in prayer because it protects from all shameful and blameworthy deeds. Seek help through Allah for He is the best to seek help from.

- Abdus Shakur Brooks

May Allah ta’ala grant us khushoo’. Ameen. Peace and blessings upon the best of creation, His beloved.