[In a Prayer Circle in May, amid India's covid crisis, Marian and Aslinur offered a powerful Sufi prayer. Below is a lightly edited transcript and video of their offering.]

Aslinur: As-salaam alaykum, dear sisters and brothers, may peace, compassion, and blessings of the divine be upon us on all the creations and creatures.

Marian: It's our great honour to be here, with all of you in this beautiful circle of companions. We are in Istanbul, and we are three days before the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and prayer. So, it feels very meaningful to be having this global prayer circle here right now, at this moment, when hundreds of millions of Muslims, around the world, are already in an ongoing phase of fasting and prayer and introspection. So, our intention in sharing this prayer is also linking in, with this whole field of prayer, that has been going on since the beginning of Ramadan. And just to share very briefly, one of the meanings of the word Ramadan, it comes from the Arabic root Ra ma dha and it means the scorching heat of the sun. The Sun, you must imagine the desert Plains of Arabia, so that kind of scorching heat and the idea is really, that heat, that burns away the ego and burns away all the impurities in the human being and Ramadan being really a time, towards that goal. And also, I think, reflecting on the times we are in right now, we are in a time of intense heat, globally with the pandemic, but also looking at what has been happening in Jerusalem, or what is going on in Afghanistan, right now. So we are keeping all this in our consciousness and especially sending our prayers to mother India and I will pass it to Aslinur to presence, and give a context around the prayers that we will be chanting for you.

Aslinur: First of all, thank you a lot for inviting us here into the space and giving us the opportunity to express our humble prayers, for those who passed away, for those who are suffering, and for those who are at the threshold. I would like to ask you to have a glass of water with you, because in the Islamic tradition, we believe water is alive, as everything is alive, and it has a memory. So, whenever we chant and pray, we blow it into the water and then we give it to the sick people, to heal them. So, if you want, if your hearts resonate with the inspiration, then you are invited to have a glass of water with you, during the prayers.

First of all, we will start with Fatihah. It is the heart of the Koran and the opener of the spaces. And then we will offer a small Zikr ceremony. Zikr means remembrance and it means remembering that everything is one and it is one body and one soul, and we are not separate from each other. And there is nothing but only the divine being that exists. And we are just the containers and spaces and fields that the divine attributes and names are emerging and manifesting itself. So, all the chants we are chanting, they are divine names and hopefully inshallah, they will be activating the healing, compassion, kindness, and protective energy. And then we will finalize with Salawat, which is the blessings of prophet Mohammed, may peace be upon him, who is the source of all the light and all the blessings for us. So, if you are ready, we can start.

“Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem," in the name of God, who is compassionate and merciful, like a loving mother to all of us. Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Al hamdu lillaahi rabbil ‘alameen
Ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Maaliki yaumid Deen
Iyyaaka na’abudu wa iyyaaka nasta’een
Ihdinas siraatal mustaqeem
Siraatal ladheena an ‘amta’ alaihim
Ghairil maghduubi’ alaihim waladaaleen
Aameen

Ya shafi, the healer, ya kafi , the one who is enough for everything, ya muafi , the protector, ya allah .

Ya Shafi - Ya Kafi - Ya Muafi, Ya Allah
Ya Shafi - Ya Kafi - Ya Muafi - ya Allah
Ya Shafi - Ya Kafi - Ya Muafi - ya Allah

Ya allah, ya allah, ya allah, ya allah,
Ya allah , ya allah ya allah , ya allah

Allah, allah, allah, allah, allah, allah, allah
Allahumma salli 'ala Seyyidinah Muhammadi-nin Nabi ummi-yi wa aala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim


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Aslinur: So, I hope the water, which collected all the prayers and blessings that we offered humbly from Istanbul and from the Bosphorus as well, healed the sick people, and also reach out to all the beings which need love, blessing, and healing. Aameen. May it be love.

Marian: So you may drink the water and also water the soil of your land.