The Elder of Herat
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Before we listen to his prayers, let us meet the man.
al-Ansari’s family traced its lineage to a famous companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him: Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the man in whose house the Prophet stayed when he first arrived in Madinah. That is where his name, al-Ansari, comes from.
He was born in Herat, and from childhood he showed an astonishing memory and love of learning. He became one of the great hadith scholars of his age, and a teacher of the inner path, guiding students in sincerity, humility, and the love of Allah.
He also wrote a famous short book called the Stations of the Wayfarers, describing a hundred stages of the spiritual journey. Scholars wrote commentaries on it for centuries.
But in his old age, blind, after many trials, it is these simple prayers that carried his heart most clearly. A great scholar, who knew so much, and who ended up saying, again and again, the simplest thing: O Lord, I want only You.
Perhaps that is the lesson before the lesson. All knowledge, if it is real, leads back to a humble heart speaking to its Lord.
