Medina 2

Medina – 2
The Love of Medina
"When the heart turns toward the qibla of love, it becomes Medina."

Medina... When its name is spoken, a rose blossoms within the heart, and a fountain of mercy flows in the eyes.
Mecca calls one to spiritual ecstasy, while Medina invites to serenity.
One is the fire of love; the other, the dawn of love.
Mecca ignites love, Medina soothes it, wraps it, and covers it with the cloak of mercy.
Because Medina is the place where the Messenger of Allah walked—
Its soil carries the imprint of his footsteps, its air echoes his voice...

Medina is not merely a city; it is a state, a spiritual condition.
It is the place where the path to reunion is woven with patience,
Where migration (Hijrah) blossoms into mercy.
Walking from Mecca to Medina is not merely traveling from one geography to another—
It is migrating from the self to the heart, from ego to surrender.
For the one who makes Hijrah, Medina is the final stop...
The destination of love, the peace of the heart...

The Prophet (peace be upon him) once prayed:
“O Allah! Make Medina as beloved to us as Mecca—or even more so!”
Because he knew: to love Medina is to love Allah.
To be attached to Him, and to His Messenger, is to awaken to the truth of love.

In Medina, love is simple, silent, and humble.
You arrive at the Rawda—your ego falls silent, your heart begins to speak.
There, words become inadequate; tears are wisdom.
In a single greeting, centuries of separation come to an end.
For the Messenger is there.
It is the place where mercy descended, where the scent of prophethood lingers in the soil.

The love of Medina is a love patiently woven.
It teaches the etiquette of loving.
It is not a love that fills the eyes—but one that calms the soul...
Like watching a rose slowly bloom—silent, yet deeply stirring...

Travelers of the Sufi path know:
Mecca is the station of ecstasy (jazbah); Medina, the station of tranquility (sukoon).
The first blaze of love is in Mecca,
But the rest and peace of the heart is in Medina.
For by migrating to Medina, the Prophet taught us:
The perfection of love lies in migration,
The final destination of devotion is Medina.

And if, one day, your eyes well up when you remember the name of the Prophet in your heart—
It means you carry a Medina within you.
Nurture that Medina. Build a Rawda there...
Prepare a greeting for the Messenger...
Let that greeting be a prayer, washed in tears in the middle of the night.
Perhaps the roses of the Rawda will bloom again,
Carried on the fragrance of that very prayer.

Özer Akpınar
Researcher – Historian