Rawda 4

Rawda – 4
“The Path to Rawda”
(A road of reunion walked with the heart)

There are paths where the ground beneath your feet is not soil, but mercy.
There are destinations where arrival does not end the journey;
for the heart is born anew there.
Such is the path that leads to Rawda.

Rawda is not merely a garden in the heart of Madinah.
It is a light of mercy blossoming under the shade
of the Beloved of all beloveds (PBUH).
To walk toward Him is not to walk upon earth,
but upon adab, upon love, upon surrender.

The intention that begins with Umrah
directs your heart to a single point.
The world slips away from your eyes,
arrogance falls from your hands.
Now you are a traveler,
but it is not geography that guides your steps—
it is longing itself:
“I must reach Rawda...”

With every step toward Rawda,
you hear the echo of Uhud in the mountains,
the minarets of al-Masjid an-Nabawi
call your heart with the adhan.
And deep within your soul,
“As-salāmu ʿalayka yā Rasūlallāh”
trembles like a delicate sigh.

When Madinah appears on the horizon,
no luggage comes to mind,
nor the burdens of the world.
Only one thought remains:
“I have come to His door.”

“This path is the path of adab.”

It is a road washed with tears,
walked with salawat upon the tongue,
and modesty within the heart.
For you know: Rawda al-Mutahhara
is a garden brushed by the wings of angels.

Each step becomes like a prostration;
your feet walk, but your heart kneels.
This is not the road of the standing body,
but of the soul bowed in sujūd.

When you arrive at Rawda,
the prayers of years well up in your eyes.
The green dome above appears like the sky itself.
Every heart shaded beneath it
has witnessed love and attained reunion.

To arrive there
is like touching the smile of the Prophet (PBUH).
To the Messenger whose name you uttered from afar,
your heart now whispers:
“I have come, O Messenger of Allah...”

Özer Akpınar
Researcher – Historian