Our Amin – By Nadim van de Fliert

12 October 2012
Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Amin & Nadim, Winter 2003

Last Friday afternoon – during the moments at which I surmise my dearest cousin must have winged his flight to the celestial realms – an Amin paid me a visit.  He was not some fleeting shadow of my imagination or a vision as if in reverie, but quite simply a prospective student of my program.  I passed him in the hall several times as I wavered between classrooms, conversations, and the door of the building, not sure of where to turn at the close of the week.  He lingered in the hallway, gazing intently at the posters on the wall, a leather portfolio brief clutched under his left arm – an exceedingly calm and gentle figure, well-groomed, self-assured, and redolent of humility.  Each time I passed him, a fleeting glance in his direction was met by an infinitesimal clasp of eyes.  “Who could this be?” I thought, and “what is he doing here?”  I did not recognize this young man, but his presence was as much reassuring as it was perplexing.  It was either by chance or by fate that I met Amin moments later after my anxious meandering through the building, for I felt unsettled and unsure of why.  Nevertheless, my encounter with Amin assured me that he was as kind and gracious as any Amin must be.

But just as one Amin enters my life, another Amin – our Amin – departs it.  His departure – as jolting and jarring to us as the violent collapse of ground beneath our feet – leaves an indelible void in our hearts.  A cacophony of emotions wells up from the depths of our beings.  Words are utterly deficient.  Yet deep amid this tumult of noise a serenely tranquil melody rises, faint yet unmistakable at first, but gaining in power and majesty with each passing day until the symphony of God’s mysterious Will thunders out and stirs us to our knees.  How sweet its sound, how soothing its refrain as we prostrate before its eternal Wisdom.

It is no wonder the angels came for Amin so soon.  Though he walked this earth, it seemed as if he was never of it.  He had an ethereal quality about him, one which put him in a rare class of men who though living on earth, belonged to the ‘heavenly, illuminated, spiritual, divine.’

“Such souls must appear and engage, with simplicity, freedom and purity, in training the public and in guiding all people. If such souls arise, the Holy Spirit will aid them, the hosts of the heavenly angels will render them victorious, the bounties of the Kingdom of Abha will surround them, the ray of the Sun of Truth will shine, the breezes of the Paradise of Abha will give spirit, the ocean of favors will boil and the good scent of the fragrances of holiness will perfume the nostrils of the inhabitants of the world.”

And with the passing of such a soul, I imagine the very atoms across this physical realm begin to dilate and dart with frenetic tension and release – transmitting their energies, shedding their essence, whispering with sheer ecstasy.  Thousands upon thousands of angels descend to envelope and embrace the spirit of one who longs to return to his eternal abode – the solace of the heavenly realms.  The concourse of souls bellows an anthem of sheer rapture, its echoes penetrating the very depths of human hearts, as it marches triumphantly to retrieve its trust and carry it home with the pomp and grandeur that no earthly monarch has ever witnessed.  Onwards and onwards to the Light he goes…

“And when the appointed hour hath struck, do Thou, by the leave of God, the All-Wise, reveal from the heights of the Most Lofty and Mystic Mount a faint, an infinitesimal glimmer of Thy impenetrable Mystery, that they who have recognized the radiance of the Sinaic Splendour may faint away and die as they catch a lightning glimpse of the fierce and crimson Light that envelops Thy Revelation. And God is, in very truth, Thine unfailing Protector.”

Last Friday I wish I had told Amin about our Amin – how special he was.  God! How I loved him so!  My heart yearns to turn to each and every stranger, to meet them, embrace them, and tell them of my cousin – to recount the beauty of his character, the staunchness of his faith, and the purity of his love.  If only once you had met the penetrating gaze of his eyes, heard the sheer brilliance of his laugh, inhaled the pure perfume of his immaculacy, tasted the sweetness of his lustrous service, or felt the warmth of his tender affection.  Oh, how I long to shout the praises and laudations of his soul that the denizens of this world and the next might turn and behold – that here is the supremely radiant example of the servant of God and humanity.

“The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will, raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting. He shall purify them from the defilement of idle fancies and corrupt desires, shall lift them up to the heights of holiness, and shall cause them to manifest the signs of His sovereignty and might upon earth. Thus hath it been ordained by God, the All-Glorious, the All-Loving.”

Oh peoples of the world:  Rejoice, for God’s day has arrived!  Here is the evidence you seek.  Behold with awe and wonder that this soul – this infinitely missed gem – was raised up by the Lord and lived the days of his life as one of God’s new race of men.  Glory and praise rest upon him.  May he soar with endless bliss to the origin of his desire at the seat of the Lord’s throne.  Even still, may he continue to shower his blessings upon his loved ones on this earthly plane and assure them of the promise of heavenly reunion.  In patience and forbearance to God’s inscrutable Will we might find our reward.

To Dayee Shidfar and Farzaneh khanum I offer my supplication for the Blessed Beauty to accept a son’s intercession in behalf of his parents, for he arose ‘to render Him service’ and ‘exerted effort at all times in the pathway of His love.’

To Laila joon and Vafa jan I offer my entreaty to Him to ‘guard you in the shelter of His protection’ and to bestow upon you His indomitable strength and courage.

To all our family I offer my certitude of how blessed we are, and how countless His favors for us remain.

With all my love…
Nadim