Why Muslims honor and seek blessings from sacred relics and places

Why Muslims honor and seek blessings from sacred relics and places Narrations from Our Master Muhammad the Messenger of Allah and As Shifa

Clothes
Imam Muslim narrates that, Abdullah, the freed slave of Asma bint Abi Bakr said, “One day, Asma, brought out for us a jubbah decorated with a pattern and hemlines, its collars and cuffs lined with brocade, and said: “This is the jubbah of the Prophet peace be upon him, which was in the keeping of Aisha, and when she passed away I took it. The Prophet, peace be upon him, used to wear it, and now we wash it to treat the sick.”
from Our Master Muhammad the Messenger of Allah

Pulpit
Ibn Saad narrated that Yazid bin Abdullah bin Qusayt said: “I saw some of the Companions of the Messenger, peace be upon him, when the Mosque had emptied of the people, taking hold of the pommel on the pulpit behind the grave with their right hands, and then facing Qibla and supplicating.”
from Our Master Muhammad the Messenger of Allah

Ibn Umar was seen to place his hand on the seat of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in the mimbar/pulpit and then place it on his face.
As Shifa

Staff
Muhammad Ibn Sirin relates that Anas bin Malik had in his possession a short staff which had belonged to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and when he died, it was buried with him between his body and his shroud.
from Our Master Muhammad the Messenger of Allah

His, peace be upon him, resting place
Zayd bin Aslam related that his father told him that Umar went to the Mosque and found Muadh weeping at the grave of the Prophet peace be upon him. Umar asked him why he wept, and he replied, “I heard a hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in which he said, “The slightest ostentation in worship is idolatry, and whosoever shows enmity to the Friends of Allah has thereby declared war on Allah.”
from Our Master Muhammad the Messenger of Allah

One of the early Muslims said, “I saw Anas bin Malik come to the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) grave. He stopped and raised his hands so that I thought he was beginning the prayer. He greeted the Prophet (peace be upon him) and left.”

 As Shifa

Piety

"Many pious men are as motionless as a serpent or a scorpion frozen with cold. Their piety is not due to rectitude and purity, but to lack of opportunity. When summer comes in and the surroundings change, one may behold what they do"

-Shaikh Sharfuddîn Manerî

Dedication to one's guide

Shaykh `Ali b. al-Mubarak asked his teacher the Ghawth `Abd al-`Aziz al-Dabbagh one day: “So-and-so has come to our area for a visit. May I go see him and benefit from him? They say he is a qutb.” Shaykh `Abd al-`Aziz said yes. Shaykh `Ali went, then, after some time, came back to visit with Shaykh `Abd al-`Aziz. “How was your visit?” the latter asked. “Not as I had expected, O my beloved teacher,” replied Shaykh `Ali. Shaykh `Abd al-`Aziz looked at him and said: “O Shaykh `Ali, all the Qutbs and Awliya are right here in my chest. I am your lot among the Shuyukh and you are my lot among the Murids.” After that Shaykh `Ali never asked such a question again.

The banishment and return of Adam and his progeny

Tomorrow, Adam will go into paradise with his children. A
cry will rise up from all the particles of paradise because of the
crowding. The angels of the World of Sovereignty will look
with wonder and say, “Is this that same man who moved out
of paradise a few days ago in poverty and indigence?”

“Adam, bringing you out of paradise was a curtain over this
business and a covering over the mysteries, for the loins of your
good fortune were the ocean of the one-hundred-twenty and
some thousand pearls of prophethood. Suffer a bit of trouble,
then in a few days, take the treasure!”

- Ahmad Samani

From Sufism A Beginner's Guide by William Chittick

Posted from this book before, but it is just this good that it deserves a re-post.

In honor of the most honorable of mankind

Any house in which you dwell
Does not need lamps
- Shibli


A thousand times do I wash my mouth with musk and rosewater
And still, to speak your name is absolute impudence
- Urfi


Love of the Prophet runs like blood in the veins of the community
- Iqbal

Translations by Annemarie Schimmel

Ecstatic verses translated by Annemarie Schimmel

Leave grammar and snytax to the people;
I study the Beloved!
- Qadi Qadan of Sindh (d. 1551)

The mullahs have made me read lessons,
They have not gone beyond the alif!
- Bulleh Shah

Oh waterwheel, why do you wail?
My greif I wail, my pain I wail.
I fell in love with God my Lord.
And that is why I weep and wail.
They found me on a mountain top;
They broke my arms, they broke my limbs,
They used my wood to build this wheel:
My grief I wail, my pain I wail.
- Sultan Bahu

Seeking Refuge

It is reported from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, "I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at Safa, facing an individual in the form of an elephant whom he was cursing. I asked, 'Who are you cursing, Messenger of Allah?' He replied, 'This is the accursed shaytan.' I said, 'Enemy of Allah, by Allah, I will kill you and relieve the Community of you!' He said, 'This is not my repayment from you.' I asked, 'And what is your repayment from me, enemy of Allah?' He said, 'By Allah, no one will hate you at all unless I had a share of him with his father in his mother's womb.'

From the Tafsir of Imam Al Qurtubi, Seeking Refuge from Satan.
http://bewley.virtualave.net/ulum4.html

O where is he? The Prophet, the Hashemite

O where is he? The Prophet, the Hashemite, the Splendid Full Moon!
So cry out with your loudest voice and with your benedictions upon him, purify your hearts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mzNYck0vg0

An-Naziat

And say, "Hast thou the will to purify thyself";
Quran 79:18
Translated by A.J. Arberry 

Whoever they are, wherever they are ...

"The people who have the best claim to me are the pious, whoever they are, and wherever they are."

Said the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, to Muadh ibn Jabal r.a. when bidding him farewell.

Under the Banner of Ahl ul Bayt

Hold your Guide's hand and chant the name Allah Hu Allah
Under the banner of Abu Turab, the Master of Men, chant the name Allah Hu Allah
O Hayderis, step on your hawa (nafs) and soar in hawa (air)

Hold your Guide's hand and chant the name Allah Hu Allah
Gather at the Prophetic Pond, drink the sustenance of Men, chant the name Allah Hu Allah
O Hayderis, drink from Hasan and Husain the cup bearers at the Prophetic Pond.

Hold your Guide's hand and chant the name Allah Hu Allah
Love the sons of Fatima, the resident of Jannah, chant the name Allah Hu Allah
O Hayderis, love of Hasan and Husain is faith, says Allah Hu Allah

-Khaadim

Jalal wa Jamal

If Makkah is Jalal, then Madinah is Jamal. 
Makkah is effort (tawaf etc) while Madinah is rest with the Beloved.
- Khaadim

True Friend

Your true friend is he who is always with you,
And he who harms himself in order to help you,
And he who, when calamities of the time break you,
Scatters his cloak in order to save you.

- Imam Ali, may Allah enoble his face

Found in Bidayat Al Hidayah by Imam Al Ghazzali

Ascetic Activism

"Ibrahim ibn Adham used to ask his companions about the price of food, and when told that it was expensive, he would reply: "render it cheap by abandoning it."

- Imam Al Ghazzali, from The Breaking of the Two Desires.

One cannot abandon a thing one does not have the ability to acquire. Therefore it is the responsibility of the rich to abandon in solidarity with the poor.

Protecting the Stomach

Sayyidna Alī, may  Allah  ennoble  his face, said, ‘a  man who aspires  to what enters his  stomach will  be  valued  to  the extent  of  what comes out of it.’

- Imam Al Hadad, from Protecting the Stomach

Al Baqir, the Revealer

Someone asked Imam Muhammad Baqir, "Sire! Why do you weep and cry like this?" His reply was, "Prophet Yaqub lost just one son and wept till he went blind. How can I help weeping when I have lost eighteen members of my family, including my grandfather Hussain at Karbala. Have I suffered any way less than Prophet Yaqub which caused his blindness?"

- Syed Ali Hujweri, Kashful Mahjub

The Life of the Awliya

Happy is he whose name dies not! He who sleeps beneath the earth with a heart that lives is better than he who lives with a soul that is dead, for the former remains forever.
Shaykh Saadi, Bustan

True Worship

The wife of an officer of a king said to her husband, “Arise, and go to the royal palace, that they may give you food, for your children are in want.”
“The kitchen is closed today,” he answered. “Last night the Sultan resolved to fast awhile.”
In the despair of hunger, the woman bowed her head and murmured, “What does the Sultan seek from his fasting when his breaking the fast means a festival of joy for our children?”

From the Bustan of Shaykh Saadi 

Repentance

"What can an old prostitute do but vow to become chaste ... "
From the Gulistan of Shaykh Saadi 

Bishr the Barefoot

"Ahmad-ibn Hanbal visited Beshr frequently, having a complete faith in him to such a point that his pupils protested. “Today you are without rival as a scholar of Traditions, the law, theology and every manner of science, yet every moment you go after a [poor]fellow. Is that seemly?”
“Indeed, in all the sciences you have enumerated I have better knowledge than he,” Ahmad-e Hanbal replied. “But he knows God better than I.”
http://cyclewalabanda.blogspot.ca/2007/07/conversion-of-hazrat-bishr-hafi-from.html