The Year of Sorrow
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Welcome. Some stories are told once a year, in mosques and homes, by candlelight and with sweet voices. This is one of them.
About three hundred years ago, in the city of the Prophet ﷺ, a scholar named Ja’far al-Barzanji wrote this story in rhymed Arabic prose. Words meant to be sung, with a prayer upon the Prophet ﷺ after every passage. He was the preacher at the Prophet’s own mosque. And his words are still recited, especially in the month of Rajab.
The story begins in a time of grief. The Prophet ﷺ had lost his beloved wife Khadijah, who had believed in him when no one else did. He had lost his uncle Abu Talib, who had protected him from his enemies. And when he went to the town of Ta’if seeking help, he was driven out with stones.
It was the year of sorrow. And it was then, says al-Barzanji, that God invited His beloved on a journey no human being had ever taken.
The Qur’an begins its account in one verse. Glory be to the One who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him some of Our signs. Notice, says al-Barzanji, that God calls him here His servant. There is no higher title.
