Saying or Reciting “Ya Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir, Shay’an Lillah”

Question

What is the translation and meaning of the words: [ar]يَا شَيْخُ عَبْدَ الْقَادِرِ شَيْئًا لِلَّهِ[/ar] “Ya Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir, shay’an lillah” (“O Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir, [give] something for the sake of Allah”)? What is the ruling on writing them and reciting them as a regular litany? When and why did this expression come into currency? Who were its first originators?

Answer

In it something is asked of Hazrat Sayyid ‘Abd al-Qadir ﵀ for the sake of Allah: the request is addressed to him himself, while Allah ﷻ — whose bounty is all-embracing — has been made the means (wasila). This method is wrong; it has come out inverted: one ought to have asked of the Pure God, the Owner of Dominion (Malik al-Mulk)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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