Rawda 5

Rawda – 5
“The First Salām in Rawda”
(The highest prayer of silence)

When I reached the gate of Rawda, my heart carried a thousand years of longing,
and upon my trembling lips:
“As-salāmu ʿalayka yā Rasūlallāh...”

I forgot what to say—
for here is a station where tongues fall silent,
and only the heart speaks.

As I took my first step,
the distance between me and the earth grew less,
yet the distance of reverence grew more.
For He was there...
and I had come to present, with my tears,
every prayer I had long been unable to utter.

“A Heart Bowed in Reverence”

That first greeting is neither a mere phrase nor a habit.
It is the moment when a heart, cracked with the longing of an ummah,
is reunited with its Master.

I gave salām...
But first my eyes lowered in prostration,
then my heart sank to its knees.
In that one salām was the yearning of years,
and the hope of centuries.

To stand in His presence
is to know oneself as nothing with one’s whole being.
For He was a mercy to the worlds,
and I—though nothing—
was counted among the ummah remembered in His prayers.

“Silent Words Carried by Tears”

Salawat flowed upon tongues,
yet the lips were parched.
For the heart was so full
that no room was left for words.

I gave salām... and my eyes filled with tears.
For within me resounded the question:
“How faithfully have I lived by his Sunnah?”

That question sank into me like a cloak of shame.

I said to Him:
“As-salāmu ʿalayka”
but in truth, my intention was:
“Forgive me, O Messenger of Allah.”

The heart warmed by His name
trembled once more in His presence.

“A Greeting is the Beginning of Union”

The first salām given in Rawda
is not merely the start of a visit,
but the sign of a transformation.

For whoever enters through this gate
can never leave the same.

That greeting reorients the qiblah of the heart.
That greeting is the name of love.
That greeting is the supplication of adab—
the most silent sujūd of love.

Özer Akpınar
Researcher – Historian