Dua when picking up the Dastarkhaan

Submitted by Mohammed Gilani on

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ حَمْدًا كَثِيرًا طَيْبًا مَبَارَكًا فِيهِ، غَيْرَ مَكْفِيٍّ وَلَا مُوَدَّعٍ وَلَا مُسْتَغْنًى عَنْهُ رَبْنَا

All praise is due to Allah, praises in abundance, pure and blessed in it, praises are insufficient and we can never say farewell to them, nor can we ever be independent of them!

See explanation!
Our Sheikh dâmat barakatuhum explains this dua thus: That we thank Allah  for the meals we had, thanks in abundance, pure praises, blessed in it. That, though we are sending this food away now, giving the impression that we are not in need of it now; but it is not sufficient for us; in a few hours we will be in need again! We are not sending it away permanently and we are not independent of it. 

We can never be independent of Allah Ta'ala for any split second or in any way. So the food is going away now, but just now we will be desperately in need of it again!

So the correct procedure is that those going to eat must first sit down then the dastarkhan must be put down then the utensils then the food. And the reverse when finishing meals, i.e. first the food must be lifted, then the utensils and finally the dastarkhan, at that time is this dua to be recited. This is the ideal! However, Hadhrat Moulana Shah Abraarul Haq Saheb (Rahimahullah) used to say at least lift up the food before getting up. 

Even if just one person (even a child) is sitting at the dastarkhan before and/or after meals and the food is on the dastarkhan, then it will be alright. If other people are still going to sit and eat, then too it will be alright to get up. Even if one gets up, while others are sitting it will be alright. 

The example of  this adab is like in a court room, when the whole court is seated and everything is in order, then the judge/magistrate walks in, and at the end he first gets up and walks out, then everyone else is allowed to leave as he is the most important person there. Here the food is the most important; we are in need of the food, the food is not in need of us. So, we must first sit down and wait for the food and at the end the food must first leave then we are allowed to leave.