Tahlil Arwah: Rumi

He told Kemal to do this: "Tonight, instead of reciting the tahlil for your father, sit in silence. Feel the presence of 'Allah' alone. Let every other name—including 'father' and 'Kemal'—dissolve. Then, whisper the tahlil as if God is reciting it to God. For in the end, there is no one to save and no one to be saved. There is only the One."

"Nothing," said Kemal. "The river absorbs it." tahlil arwah rumi

One evening, Kemal had a vivid dream. He found himself on a vast, misty plain. In the distance stood his father, but the man was not an old spirit; he was a young, terrified soul trying to lift a massive, frayed rope. Every time he pulled, the rope snapped. He told Kemal to do this: "Tonight, instead

"Maulana," Kemal cried, "tell me the secret of Tahlil Arwah !" Then, whisper the tahlil as if God is reciting it to God

"What happened?" Kemal asked.

"Exactly," said Rumi. "Your father's soul is no longer a clay pot—a collection of sins and virtues. It has returned to the River of Oneness. When you recite tahlil thinking, 'I am a good son sending a package to a dead man,' you are throwing stones at the river. But when you recite La ilaha illallah as a state of your own annihilation—when you forget the sender, the sent, and the one you are sending to—that is not a stone. That is a raindrop returning to the ocean. And that raindrop becomes the ocean."