PRAYERS AND AMENS

Assalatu wa'ssalamu alayqa O Rasûlullah. Assalatu wa'ssalamu alayqa O Habiballah. Assalatu wa'ssalamu alayqa O Sayyida al-awwalina wa al-ahirin.

Greetings to You, O Prophet of Allah and beautiful Person who is loved by Allah! Greetings to You, Respect to You, Affection to You!

We are now in Istanbul as you heralded thousands year ago. Every morning, your holy name becomes a wing and flies in the sky with the name of Janab al-Zu a1-Jalal wa al-Iqram, who is the owner of the world of creatures. Your name brings richness and fruitfulness to our cities, our country and our world, and the souls says "Bismillah" in happiness. The tauhid expression (La ilaha illallah Muhammadun Rasulullah) which is written on the doors of our palaces with golden letters and with dhaji thuluth script mesmerizes the guests. The verses that you conveyed to us from Allah which are written on our mosques with Turkish blue ceramics pour into our scorched hearts as a Kauthar (Abundance) drop. O Prophet! Fortunately you exist, you have existed and you will always exist.

Table of the universe has been prepared for your reverence. If we are invited to this feast, we can join in this magnificent table to your honor. Everything has been created because of your existence. We, the helpless believers of mankind family, are here only because we are close or distant relatives of you, and only to your honor "the honor of a place depends on the honor of its residents." Being involved in your ummah (Islamic community) which existed for thousands of years and becoming worthy of Islam is our only hope. We are praying to merit your affection...

My Brothers, believers of Allah, ummah of the Prophet. Do you not realize that not only our own life and the life of humanity on earth, but also the life of our universe, the creatures and black holes of which we are unable to know is interwoven and flows irreversibly within various hourglasses from the section that shall be lived into the section that is being experienced. I, you, he, our world and universe are quickly approaching towards our predestined fate. Oh my Allah! Create time within time and give opportunity to us, to your impotent believers for us to use this time in accordance with Your consent!

How much would I wish

Oh Prophet!

To become a thin grass

To become a thin grass

While you breathe

How much would I wish

Oh Prophet!

To lie under your feet

To prostrate before Lord

While you climb to Thawr

How much

How much

Would I wish

Oh Prophet!

To see you coming

While you ascend to Hira

To roll over the hills

With one tiny touch

Of your bashmak al-sharref

And to become a stone

Arriving in Kaaba

( Umit Meric, Prayers and Amens, Timas Publications, Istanbul 2006)