Ad-Darr An-Nafi’
Exalted and Glorious
Ad-Darr An-Nafi’ is the Withholder of Benefit. He is the Assessor of harm to whomever He desires as He desires, and He is the One who destines goodness to whomever He desires as He desires. All this is from what has been determined in His Wisdom of His detaining. So let us be patient during the times of his strengthening and His withholding because in this there is benefit for us; and let us praise and thank Him during the times of His goodness.
From: The Children Around the Table of Allah by Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id al-Jamal ar-Rifa’i Head of the Higher Sufi Council in Jerusalem and the Holy Land Teacher at the Dome of the Rock (al-Aqsa)
AD-DARR
Allah is the creator of the harmful and evil just as He is the creator of the good and beneficial. The attribute ad-Darr, the Creator of Evil, is usually conceived together with the attribute an-Nafi’, the Creator of Good. Neither name appears in the Qur’an. They belong to the attributes of Allah on the authority of the Prophet (pbuh).
Sometimes the two attributes are inseparable. What is poison to one is medicine to another, what is sweet to one is bitter to another. We think that food feeds by itself and poison kills by itself. We think that the one responsible for good and evil is a human being, or an angel, or the Devil, while all that happens is by the will of the Eternal Power. Although Allah has created evil as well as good, He has also taught us to opt for the good and escape the evil. He has also given us the power of discrimination, given us a will and freedom to choose. In the whole creation, only the human being has a will. Through this will, Allah has separated humanity into two parts: the good doing good and being led toward good, and the bad doing evil and being led toward evil. This, knowingly and willingly, people do themselves.
Allah Most High is Halim, gentle, and He is Sabur, patient. He does not destroy those who have opted for evil. He keeps feeding them, letting them have time so that possibly they will change. And sometimes they do: the good for the worse and the evil for the better. This is all a test. The final exam does not come until the moment one inhales one’s last breath.
Indeed, if a wall is cracked and leaning to the right, as times passes it will lean further, and finally collapse on the right side. But, rarely, just as the wall is about to collapse to the side toward which it is leaning, does an unusual thing happen. A hurricane, an earthquake, will either straighten the wall or make it collapse on the other side. Likewise some people who revolt, who disbelieve, who become toys in the hands of their egos and the claws of the Devil, may one day feel the pang of the fear of Allah and take to the right path. Other people may resemble those who follow the straight path devout, compassionate, and generous but then become pleased with themselves, turn arrogant, think themselves better than others … and may be rejected from Allah’s mercy, as was the arrogant Devil.
Indeed the suffering we go through, the harm that comes to us, is only our own fault. Although Allah created evil and ordered us to shun it, forbade it to us, we run after the things that are forbidden. That is the test. We think of the Devil as an ugly creature. The Devil shows his ugliness only to the ones who detect him. When he comes to tempt even the saints, he makes himself very attractive, as when he appeared to Jesus Christ (pbuh) as a beautiful woman.
Allah has manifested His attribute of the Creator of the Harmful in the Devil and the ones who follow him. He created hellfire for them. But although Allah has created evil, the cause of its coming upon you is only yourself. If bankruptcy comes upon you, it is through your dishonesty or overambitiousness or incapability. If sickness comes upon you, usually it is because of your carelessness or your negligence of your body. Although Allah has created evil, the one who wants it, works for it, and gains it is always the servant.
Some of us serve as lessons to others, others learn from their own lessons. There is practically no one who does not slip into sinning at one time or another: those who suffer in consequence are the ones who learn from their mistakes, and that is the best of repentance.
Allah says in a divine tradition,
The ones who do not submit and accept My justice and My punishment, and the ones who are not thankful for My bounty upon them … let them see a Lord other than me.
In another tradition He says,
There is no remedy for the sickness of a person who does not accept his destiny and My judgment.
However, sin and error are not the only reasons for suffering. Sometimes Allah Most High puts a veil of pain and distress over the ones whom He loves and the ones who love Him to hide them from the eyes of others. This is a blessing of Allah given through misery. Allah uses difficulty and pain as a means of educating His servants. If there were nothing negative, disturbing, or painful in the world, and if people were not afflicted by these things, how could they have gained such beneficial states as patience, perseverance, bravery, and steadfastness?
When you are afflicted with grief, fear, sickness, or poverty; know that only Allah can dispel it. When you are blessed with happiness, health, success, or riches, again only Allah can sustain it. Therefore, whether in health or sickness, joy or sorrow, you are bound to submit and turn only to Him , because both good and evil come from the same source. They are both true and right.
Yet this does not mean that one should leave everything in the hands of Allah. One should seek the causes created by oneself or others and try to put things right in lawful manner. To act thus does not mean lack of faith in the Creator of good and evil. It is the best form of worship under the circumstances.
‘Abd ad-Darr is the servant who bears witness to the only One who does what He wills to do when He wills to do it. Such a person is taught the mystery of the unity of all that happens, and knows that evil as well as good comes from Allah and evil as well as good is welcome.
Someone who has been forced to a lower position than he or she previously held may recite ya Darr, ya Nafi’ 100 times during the nights of Fridays, or better still on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of the lunar months. Such people may then regain their position.
To recite this Name 1001 times may save one from the tyranny of a powerful enemy.
From: The Name & the Named by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti