ISLAM SUFI

Strange place is this world ?

Where things which will end are praised

And the praise of ever living Lord is mocked

What are these worldly people?

And what are their strange ways?

Who knows?

Like a child they play

Unaware of their Creator

So much suffering they see

And yet question the power of their Lord?

Mocking they go to their graves questioning the power of their Lord to punish them

I salute you “o” worldly

Great is your foolishness

Your opponent is the supreme Emperor

And yet you mock his power?

What are these worldly people?

And what are their strange ways?

Who knows?

Sufi786

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 9:43 AM  0 Comments

You could not understand the Truth

While the time every second was running

Running towards your death

When life had thou

You were sleeping

In death you shall awake

Nay every sleeping one shall wake up in death

To answer the Judge

The Supreme Lord

Sufi786

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 9:20 AM  0 Comments

WHY DID POPE JOHN PAUL II KISS THE HOLY QURAN ?

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 6:18 AM  0 Comments

Four

omeone said: “There is something I have forgotten.”

Rumi replied: There is one thing in this world that must never be forgotten. If you were to forget all else, but did not forget that, then you would have no reason to worry. But if you performed and remembered everything else, yet forgot that one thing, then you would have done nothing whatsoever.

It is just as if a king sent you to the country to carry out a specific task. If you go and accomplish a hundred other tasks, but do not perform that particular task, then it is as though you performed nothing at all. So, everyone comes into this world for a particular task, and that is their purpose. If they do not perform it, then they will have done nothing.

All things are assigned a task. The heavens send rain and light for the herbs of the field to germinate and spring into life. The earth receives the seeds and bears fruit, it accepts and reveals a hundred thousand marvels too numerous to tell. The mountains give forth mines of gold and silver. All these things the heavens, the earth and the mountains do, yet they do not perform that one thing; that particular task is performed by us.

"We offered the Trust to the heavens,

The earth and the mountains,

They refused to carry it and

were afraid of it,

But humans carried it.

Surely they are foolish and sinful."

So, people are given a task, and when they perform it all their sinfulness and foolishness is dissolved.

You say, "Look at all the work I do accomplish, even if I do not perform that task." You weren’t created for those other tasks! It is just as if you were given a sword of priceless Indian steel, such as can only be found in the treasuries of kings, and you were to treat it as a butcher’s knife for cutting up putrid meat, saying, "I am not letting this sword stand idle, I am using it in so many useful ways." Or it is like taking a solid gold bowl to cook turnips in, when a single grain of that gold could buy a hundred pots. Or it is as if you took a Damascene dagger of the finest temper to hang a broken gourd from, saying, "I am making good use of it. I am hanging a gourd on it. I am not letting this dagger go to waste." How foolish that would be! The gourd can hang perfectly well from a wooden or iron nail whose value is a mere farthing, so why use a dagger valued at a hundred pounds?

A poet once said:

You are more precious than heaven and earth.

What more can I say?

You do not know your own worth.

God says, "I will buy you...your moments, your breaths, your possessions, your lives. Spend them on Me. Turn them over to Me, and their price is divine freedom, grace and wisdom. This is your worth in My eyes." But if we keep our life for ourself, then we lose what treasures we have been granted. Like the person who hammered the dagger, worth a hundred pounds into the wall to hang a gourd upon, their great fortune was reduced to a nail.

Still you offer another excuse, saying, "But I apply myself to lofty tasks. I study law, philosophy, logic, astronomy, medicine and the rest." Well, for whose sake but your own do you study these? If it is law, it is so nobody can steal a loaf from you, strip you of your clothes, or kill you - in short, it is for your own security. If it is astronomy, the phases of the spheres and their influence upon the earth, whether they are light or heavy, portending tranquility or danger, all these things are concerned with your own situation, serving your own ends. If it is medicine, it is related to your own health and also serves you. When you consider this matter well, the root of all your studies is yourself. All these lofty tasks are but branches of you.

If these subjects are filled with so many marvels and worlds of knowledge without end, consider what worlds you pass through who are the root! If your branches have their laws, their medicines, their histories, think of what transpires within you who are the source; what spiritual laws and medicines affect your inward future and fate, what histories portray your struggles of the heart!

For Soul there is other food besides this food of sleeping and eating, but you have forgotten that other food. Night and day you nourish only your body. Now, this body is like a horse, and this lower world is its stable. The food the horse eats is not the food of the rider. You are the rider and have your own sleeping and eating, your own enjoyment. But since the animal has the upper hand, you lag behind in the horse’s stable. You cannot be found among the ranks of kings and princes in the eternal world. Your heart is there, but since your body has the upper hand, you are subject to its rule and remain its prisoner.

When Majnun, as the story goes, was making for his beloved Laila’s home, as long as he was fully conscious he drove his camel in that direction. But when for a moment he became absorbed in the thought of Laila and forgot his camel, the camel turned in its tracks toward the village where its foal was kept. On coming to his senses, Majnun found that he had gone back a distance of two day’s journey. For three months he continued this way, coming no closer to his goal. Finally he jumped off the camel, saying, "This camel is the ruin of me!" and continued on foot, singing:

My camel’s desire is now behind,

My own desire is before.

Our purposes were crossed,

We can agree no more.

Burhan al-Din was once greeted by someone, who said, "I have heard praises of you sung by friends." Burhan al-Din answered, "Wait until I meet your friends to see whether they know me well enough to praise me. If they know me only by word of mouth, then they do not truly know me. For words do not endure. Syllables and sounds do not endure. This body, these lips and this mouth will not endure. All these things are mere accidents of the moment. But if they know me by my works, and they know my essential self, then I know they are able to praise me, and that praise will go where it belongs."

This is like the story they tell of a certain king. This king entrusted his son to a team of learned scholars. In due course, they taught him the sciences of astrology, geomancy, and the interpretation of signs, until he became a complete master, despite his utter stupidity and dullness of wit.

One day the king took a ring in his fist and put his son to the test.

"Come, tell me what I am holding in my fist."

"What you are holding is round, yellow, inscribed and hollow," the prince answered.

"You have given all the signs correctly," the king said. "Now say what it is."

"It must be a sieve." the prince replied.

"What?" cried the king. "You know all the minute details, which would baffle the minds of anyone. How is it that out of all your powerful learning and knowledge, the small point has escaped you that a sieve will not fit in a fist?"

In this same way, the great scholars of the age split hairs on details of all matters. They know perfectly and completely those sciences that do not concern Soul. But as for what is truly of importance and touches us more closely than anything else, namely our own Self, this your great scholars do not know. They make statements about everything, saying, "This is true and that is not true. This is right and that is wrong." Yet, they do not know their own Self, whether it is true or false, pure or impure.

Now being hollow and yellow, inscribed and circular, these features are accidental; cast the ring into the fire and none of them will remain. It becomes its essential self, purified of all appearances. So it is with the knowledge of scholars; what they know has no connection with the essential reality that alone exists when all these "signs" are gone. They speak wisely, expound at great length, and finally pronounce that what the king has in his hand is a sieve. They have no knowledge about the root of the matter: life’s purpose.

I am a bird. I am a nightingale. If they say to me, "Make some other kind of sound," I cannot. My tongue is what it is. I cannot speak otherwise. However, those who learn the song of birds are not birds themselves - on the contrary, they are the enemies of birds and their captors. They sing and whistle so others will take them for birds. Ask them to produce a different sound and they can do so, because that sound is merely assumed by them. It is not truly their own. Like the scholars, they are able to sing other songs because they have learned to rob those songs, and to show off a different tune stolen from every breast.

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 6:03 AM  0 Comments

WISDOM OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) – REPENTANCE – PART -2

We (Allah/God) has not sent you (Muhammad) expect as an mercy to the worlds

Holy Quran 21:107

NOTE

*HOLY QURAN IS THE SPEECH OR KALAM OF ALLAH REVEALED DIRECTLY TO PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) THROUGH THE ARCH ANGEL GABRIEL (P)

*HADITH MEANS THE SAYINGS OR PREACHINGS OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) EXAMPLES OF HADITH BOOKS ARE SAHI BUKHARI, SAHI MUSLIM,TIRMIDI(TIRMIZI),ABU DAWUD ,IBN MAJA,AHMED, BAZZAR,ETC ETC

*THE MUSLIMS USE (S/SAW/SWAS) AFTER THE NAME OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD(S) WHICH BASICALLY MEANS PEACE OF ALLAH/GOD BE ON THE PROPHET (S)

SIMILARLY THE WORDS (P/PBUH/AS) AFTER THE NAMES OF ALL PROPHETS OF GOD MEANS THE SAME PEACE OF ALLAH/GOD BE UPON THEM

THESE ARE A MUST ACT OF RESPECT FOR MUSLIMS

FOR EXAMPLE IF A MUSLIM SAYS PROPHET JESUS(P) THEN HE IS REQUIRED TO SAY PEACE AND BLESSINGS OF ALLAH/GOD BE UPON HIM(JESUS)(P)

Riyad-us-Saliheen (Gardens of the Righteous)

Compiled By
Al-Imam An-Nawawi Ad-Dimashqi

This book was compiled by Imam An-Nawawi(r) who was the great scholar of Hadith and Fiqh

Great Islamic Scholars said: It is necessary to repent from every sin. If the offense involves the Right of Allah, not a human, then there are three condition to be met in order that repentance be accepted by Allah:

1- To desist from committing it.

2- To feel sorry for committing it.

3- To decide not to recommit it.

Any repentance failing to meet any of these three conditions, would not be sound.

But if the sin involves a humans right, it requires a fourth condition, i.e., to absolve onself from such right. If it is a property, he should return it to its rightful owner. If it is slandering or backbiting, one should ask the pardon of the offended.

One should also repent from all sins. If he repents from some, his repentance would still be sound according to the people of sound knowledge. He should, however, repent from the rest. Scriptural proofs from the Book and the Sunnah and the consensus of the scholars support the incumbency of repentance.

HADITH Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Allah, the Exalted, will continue to stretch out His Hand in the night so that the sinners of the day may repent, and continue to stretch His Hand in the daytime so that the sinners of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west".
[Muslim].

Commentary: This Hadith confirms an essential Attribute of Allah, i.e., the Hand which He stretches out anytime He wishes without drawing similarity to it, nor interpretation. Such was the attitude of the pious predecessors with regards to all of the essential Attributes of Allah. It is deduced from this Hadith that if one commits a sin during any hour of day or night, he should immediately seek the forgiveness of Allah as a result.

HADITH Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "He who repents before the sun rises from the west, Allah will forgive him".
[Muslim].

Commentary: Taubah means returning to Allah from sins. When a person commits a sin, he goes away from Allah. When he repents, he returns to Allah and desires for being pardoned by Him, and getting near Him. This returning towards Him is Taubah. When it is said that `Allah turns towards him', it means that Allah accepts his repentance.

HADITH `Abdullah bin `Umar bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with them) reported that: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Allah accepts a slave's repentance as long as the latter is not on his death bed (that is, before the soul of the dying person reaches the throat)".
[At-Tirmidhi, who categorised it as Hadith Hasan].

Commentary: The word Ghargharah means the stage when soul is about to leave the body and reaches the throat. In other words, the time when one suffers the agony of death.

Hadith Hasan means that Hadith the authenticity of which is connected without any technical defect. Their narrators, however, are next to those of Hadith Sahih. In the opinion of Muhaddithin (Hadith scholars), Hadith Hasan is also reliable as Hadith Sahih.

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 5:42 AM  0 Comments

Holy Quran - 21:107
Surah (Chapter)al-Anbiya' - The Prophets
Verse: 107

NOTE

*HOLY QURAN IS THE SPEECH OR KALAM OF ALLAH REVEALED DIRECTLY TO PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) THROUGH THE ARCH ANGEL GABRIEL (P)

*HADITH MEANS THE SAYINGS OR PREACHINGS OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) EXAMPLES OF HADITH BOOKS ARE SAHI BUKHARI, SAHI MUSLIM,TIRMIDI(TIRMIZI),ABU DAWUD ,IBN MAJA,AHMED, BAZZAR,ETC ETC

*THE MUSLIMS USE (S/SAW/SWAS) AFTER THE NAME OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD(S) WHICH BASICALLY MEANS PEACE OF ALLAH/GOD BE ON THE PROPHET (S)

SIMILARLY THE WORDS (P/PBUH/AS) AFTER THE NAMES OF ALL PROPHETS OF GOD MEANS THE SAME PEACE OF ALLAH/GOD BE UPON THEM

THESE ARE A MUST ACT OF RESPECT FOR MUSLIMS

FOR EXAMPLE IF A MUSLIM SAYS PROPHET JESUS(P) THEN HE IS REQUIRED TO SAY PEACE AND BLESSINGS OF ALLAH/GOD BE UPON HIM(JESUS)(P)

Riyad-us-Saliheen (Gardens of the Righteous)

Compiled By
Al-Imam An-Nawawi Ad-Dimashqi

This book was compiled by Imam An-Nawawi(r) who was the great scholar of Hadith and Fiqh

WISDOM OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) – REPENTANCE – PART -1

Great Islamic Scholars said: It is necessary to repent from every sin. If the offense involves the Right of Allah, not a human, then there are three condition to be met in order that repentance be accepted by Allah:

1- To desist from committing it.

2- To feel sorry for committing it.

3- To decide not to recommit it.

Any repentance failing to meet any of these three conditions, would not be sound.

But if the sin involves a humans right, it requires a fourth condition, i.e., to absolve onself from such right. If it is a property, he should return it to its rightful owner. If it is slandering or backbiting, one should ask the pardon of the offended.

One should also repent from all sins. If he repents from some, his repentance would still be sound according to the people of sound knowledge. He should, however, repent from the rest. Scriptural proofs from the Book and the Sunnah and the consensus of the scholars support the incumbency of repentance.

Allah, the, Exalted says:

"And all of you beg Allah to forgive you, O believers, that you may be successful". Holy Quran (24:31)

"Seek the forgiveness of your Rubb, and turn to Him in repentance".

Holy Quran (11:3)

"O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance!". Holy Quran (66:8)

HADITH Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saying: "By Allah, I seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him more than seventy times a day.''
[Al-Bukhari].

Commentary:
1. It is an inducement for seeking pardon and forgiveness. The Prophet (PBUH), whose past and future sins were forgiven, asked Allah's forgiveness - then how about us, who commit sins on regular basis, not to seek pardon and forgiveness from Allah?

2. Sincere and ceaseless prayer for pardon is essential so that sins committed by us unintentionally are also forgiven. The above Hadith lays great emphasis on seeking pardon.

HADITH Al-Agharr bin Yasar Al-Muzani (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Turn you people in repentance to Allah and beg pardon of Him. I turn to Him in repentance a hundred times a day".
[Muslim].

HADITH Anas bin Malik Al-Ansari (MayAllah be pleased with him) the servant of the Messenger of Allah narrated: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Verily, Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His slave than a person who lost his camel in a desert land and then finds it (unexpectedly)".
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

In another version of Muslim, he said: "Verily, Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than a person who has his camel in a waterless desert carrying his provision of food and drink and it is lost. He, having lost all hopes (to get that back), lies down in shade and is disappointed about his camel; when all of a sudden he finds that camel standing before him. He takes hold of its reins and then out of boundless joy blurts out: 'O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Rubb'.He commits this mistake out of extreme joy".

Commentary:
1. This Hadith also deals with the inducement and merit of repentance and pardon for sins. Allah is highly pleased with repentance.

2 One will not have to account for a mistake made without any purpose and intention.

3. It is permissible to take an oath to stress on one's pardon.

4. One can quote an instance for the purpose of understanding and elaboration.

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 7:28 PM  0 Comments

NOTE

*HOLY QURAN IS THE SPEECH OR KALAM OF ALLAH REVEALED DIRECTLY TO PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) THROUGH THE ARCH ANGEL GABRIEL (P)

*HADITH MEANS THE SAYINGS OR PREACHINGS OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) EXAMPLES OF HADITH BOOKS ARE SAHI BUKHARI, SAHI MUSLIM,TIRMIDI(TIRMIZI),ABU DAWUD ,IBN MAJA,AHMED, BAZZAR,ETC ETC

Compiled By
Al-Imam An-Nawawi Ad-Dimashqi

This book was compiled by Imam An-Nawawi(r) who was the great Islamic scholar of Hadith and Fiqh

WISDOM OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S) – REPENTANCE – PART -1

We(Allah/God) have not sent you (Prophet Muhammad) except as a mercy to all the worlds.

Great Islamic Scholars said: It is necessary to repent from every sin. If the offense involves the Right of Allah, not a human, then there are three condition to be met in order that repentance be accepted by Allah:

1- To desist from committing it.

2- To feel sorry for committing it.

3- To decide not to recommit it.

Any repentance failing to meet any of these three conditions, would not be sound.

But if the sin involves a humans right, it requires a fourth condition, i.e., to absolve onself from such right. If it is a property, he should return it to its rightful owner. If it is slandering or backbiting, one should ask the pardon of the offended.

One should also repent from all sins. If he repents from some, his repentance would still be sound according to the people of sound knowledge. He should, however, repent from the rest. Scriptural proofs from the Book and the Sunnah and the consensus of the scholars support the incumbency of repentance.

Allah, the, Exalted says:

"And all of you beg Allah to forgive you, O believers, that you may be successful".

Holy Quran (24:31)

"Seek the forgiveness of your Rubb, and turn to Him in repentance".

Holy Quran (11:3)

"O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance!". Holy Quran (66:8)

HADITH Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saying: "By Allah, I seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him more than seventy times a day.''
[Al-Bukhari].

Commentary:
1. It is an inducement for seeking pardon and forgiveness. The Prophet (PBUH), whose past and future sins were forgiven, asked Allah's forgiveness - then how about us, who commit sins on regular basis, not to seek pardon and forgiveness from Allah?

2. Sincere and ceaseless prayer for pardon is essential so that sins committed by us unintentionally are also forgiven. The above Hadith lays great emphasis on seeking pardon.

HADITH Al-Agharr bin Yasar Al-Muzani (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Turn you people in repentance to Allah and beg pardon of Him. I turn to Him in repentance a hundred times a day".
[Muslim].

HADITH Anas bin Malik Al-Ansari (MayAllah be pleased with him) the servant of the Messenger of Allah narrated: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Verily, Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His slave than a person who lost his camel in a desert land and then finds it (unexpectedly)".
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

In another version of Muslim, he said: "Verily, Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than a person who has his camel in a waterless desert carrying his provision of food and drink and it is lost. He, having lost all hopes (to get that back), lies down in shade and is disappointed about his camel; when all of a sudden he finds that camel standing before him. He takes hold of its reins and then out of boundless joy blurts out: 'O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Rubb'.He commits this mistake out of extreme joy".

Commentary:
1. This Hadith also deals with the inducement and merit of repentance and pardon for sins. Allah is highly pleased with repentance.

2 One will not have to account for a mistake made without any purpose and intention.

3. It is permissible to take an oath to stress on one's pardon.

4. One can quote an instance for the purpose of understanding and elaboration.

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 7:28 PM  0 Comments

Three

T he Amir said: “Night and day my heart and Soul are intent upon serving God, but because of my responsibilities with Mongol affairs I have no time for such service.”

Rumi answered: Those works too are work done for God, since they are the means of providing peace and security for your country. You sacrifice yourself, your possessions, your time, so the hearts of a few will be lifted to peacefully obeying God’s will. So this too is a good work. God has inclined you towards such good work, and your great love for what you do is proof of God’s blessing. However, if your love of work were to weaken, this would be a sign of grace denied, for God leads only those who are worthy into those right attitudes that will earn spiritual rewards.

Take the case of a hot bath. Its heat comes from the fuel that is burned, such as dry hay, firewood, dung and the like. In the same way, God uses what to outward appearance looks evil and nasty, yet in reality is the means to cleanliness and purity. Like the bath, the man or woman fired by the efforts of work becomes purified and a benefit to all people.

(At this point some friends arrived. Rumi excused himself and said:) If I do not attend to you, and do not welcome you or ask after you, this is really a mark of respect. Respect is what is appropriate for the occasion. When someone is at prayer, they should not stop to greet their father and brother. Disregard of friends while being engaged in prayer is the highest regard, and the greatest courtesy, since that person does not break away from absorption with God on account of dear ones. This saves those loved ones from being subject to Divine reproach. Therefore, true respect is not a social pleasantry, but is concern for the spiritual honor of others.

Someone asked: “Is there any way nearer to God than prayer?”

Rumi answered: Yes, but it is also prayer. It is prayer without the outward form. This outer form of prayer is the body of prayer, since it has a beginning and ending. Everything that has a beginning and ending is a body. All words and sounds have a beginning and an end, and therefore are form and body. But the inner soul of prayer is unconditioned and infinite, and has neither beginning nor end.

Now, Mohammed, who invented the Muslim prayer, said, “I have a time with God not contained by any prophet, nor limited by any angel next to God.” Hence we realize that the soul of prayer is not the outer form alone. Rather it is a complete absorption, a state without room for these outward forms. Gabriel himself, who is pure reality, cannot be found therein.

It is related that one day friends found my father in a state of complete absorption. The hour of prayer arrived, and these friends called out to my father, “It is time for prayer.” My father did not heed their words, so they arose and occupied themselves with the prayer. However, two friends stayed with my father and did not stand up to pray.

Now, one of those who were praying was named Khvajagi. It was shown to him clearly, in his inward heart, that all those who were at prayer were standing behind the Prophet with their backs turned to Mecca, while the two who were with my father were facing Mecca. Since my father had passed away from any sense of personal identity, his self no longer remaining, having been consumed in the Light of God, he had become the Light of God.

Whoever turns their back on the Light of God, and faces the wall of their prayer-niche, has surely turned their back on Mecca. For God’s light is the soul of the Mecca-ward direction.

Mohammed once rebuked a friend, saying, “I called you. Why didn’t you come?” The friend replied, “I was occupied with prayer.” The Prophet said, “Well, wasn’t I calling you for God?” The friend answered, “I am helpless.”

It is good to feel helpless every moment, seeing yourself helpless in success, just as in failure. For above your capacity there is a greater Capacity, and your will is subject to that greater Will in every case. You are not divided into two halves, now capable, now helpless. You are always helpless, only sometimes remembering, sometimes forgetting. When you remember, then the heart of that moment becomes visible, and the way opens up before you. Indeed, what is our condition, seeing that lions, tigers and crocodiles are all helpless and tremble before God? Even the heavens and earth are helpless and subject to His decree.

God is a mighty emperor. Its Light is not like the light of the moon or sun where some form abides in its place. When God’s Light shines forth unveiled, neither heaven nor earth remain. Neither sun nor moon. Nothing remains but that great Reality.

A certain king said to a dervish, “In the moment when you find revelation and propinquity in the Court of God, remember me.” The dervish replied, “When I come into that Presence, and the Light of that Sun shines upon me, I will no more remember myself. How then can I remember you?”

Even still, make a request of such a dervish, who is utterly absorbed, and even without them mentioning you or your needs in God’s presence still the request is fulfilled.

There was once a king who had a favorite and highly confidential servant. Whenever that servant set out for the royal palace, people who had a request to make presented him with their histories and their letters, begging him to submit them to the king. He would place the documents in his wallet. On coming into the king’s presence, he could not endure the splendor of the king’s beauty, and would fall down dumfounded. The king would then, in a loving manner, put his hand into his wallet, saying, “What does this servant of mine have here, who is utterly absorbed in my beauty?”

In this way he found the letters and would endorse the petitions of every man and woman, and then return the documents into the wallet. So he would attend to the needs of every one of them, without that servant ever submitting them, so that not a single one was rejected. On the contrary, their demands were granted many times over, and they attained far more than they had asked for. But in the case of other servants who retained consciousness, and were able to present and indicate to the king the histories of the people in need - out of a hundred requests and a hundred needs, only one might be fulfilled.

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 6:48 PM  0 Comments

Two

omeone said: “Our Master does not utter a word.”

Rumi answered: Well, it was the thought of me that brought you to my presence. This thought of me did not speak with you saying, "How are things with you?" The thought without words drew you here. If the reality of me draws you without words and transports you to another place, what is so wonderful with words? Words are the shadow of reality, a mere branch of reality. Since the shadow draws, how much more the reality!

Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words. If someone should see a hundred thousand miracles and divine blessings, still, without an inner connection to that saint or prophet who was the source of those miracles, all these phenomena would come to nothing. It is this inward element that draws and moves us. If there were no element of amber in straw, the straw would never be attracted to the amber [Rumi is referring to static electricity here]. They would not cling to each other, even if you rubbed the amber with fur. This exchange between them is hidden, not a visible thing.

It is the thought that brings us. The thought of a garden brings us to the garden. The thought of a shop brings us to the shop. However, within these thoughts is a secret deception. Have you never gone to a certain place thinking it would be good, only to find disappointment? These thoughts then are like a shroud, and within that shroud someone is hidden. The day reality draws you and the shroud of thought disappears, there will be no disappointment. Then you will see reality as it is, and nothing more.

"Upon that day when the secrets are tried."

So, what reason is there for me to speak? In reality that which draws is a single thing, but it appears to be many. We are possessed by a hundred different desires. "I want vermicelli," we say. "I want ravioli. I want halvah. I want fritters. I want fruit. I want dates." We name these one by one, but the root of the matter is a single thing: the root is hunger. Don’t you see how, once we have our fill of but one thing, we say, "Nothing else is necessary?" Therefore, it was not ten or a hundred things, but one thing that drew us.

"And their number

We have appointed only as a trial."

The many things of this world are a trial appointed by God, for they hide the single reality. There is a saying that the saint is one, humankind is a hundred, meaning the saint’s whole attention remains upon the one truth, while people are scattered over a hundred appearances. But which hundred? Which fifty? Which sixty? Lost in this world of mirrored reflections, they are a faceless people without hands and feet, without mind and Soul, quivering like a magic talisman, like quicksilver or mercury. They do not know who they are. Call them sixty or a hundred or a thousand, and the saint is one, but is not this view a trial itself? For the truth is that the hundreds are nothing, while the saint is a thousand, and a hundred thousand, and thousands of thousands.

A king once gave a single soldier the rations for a hundred men. The army protested, but the king said nothing. When the day of battle arrived, all the men fled the field, except that one soldier who fought alone. "There you are," the king said. "It was for this I fed one man as a hundred."

It behooves us to strip away all our prejudices and seek out a friend of God. However, when we’ve spent our whole life in the company of people who lack discrimination, then our own discriminative faculty becomes weak, and that true friend may pass us by unrecognized.

Discrimination is a quality that is always hidden in a person. Don’t you see that an insane person possesses hands and feet but lacks discrimination? Discrimination is a subtle essence within you. Yet, day and night you have been occupied with nurturing the physical form that does not know right from wrong. Why have you devoted all your energies to looking after the physical, entirely neglecting that subtle essence? The physical exists through that essence, but that essence in no way depends on the physical.

The light that shines through the windows of the eyes and ears - if those windows did not exist, the light would not stop. It would find other windows to shine through. If you bring a lamp before
the sun, do you say, "I see the sun by means of this lamp"? God forbid! If you did not bring the lamp, the sun would still shine.
What need is there for a lamp?

This is the danger in associating with kings. It is not that you may lose your life - we must lose our life in the end anyway, whether today or tomorrow does not matter. The danger arises from the fact that when kings enter upon the scene, and the spell of their influence gains strength, becoming like a great lamp, the person who keeps company with them, claims their friendship, and accepts money from them will inevitably speak in accordance with their desires. That person will listen to the kings’ mundane views with the utmost attention, and will not be able to deny them.

That is where the danger lies, it leads to a fading respect for the true source. When you cultivate the interest of kings, that other interest which is fundamental to the spiritual life becomes a stranger to you. The more you proceed down the path of kings, the more that direction where the Beloved dwells becomes lost. The more you make your peace with worldly people, the more the Beloved turns away from you. Going in their direction renders you subject to their rule. Once you have turned down their path, in the end God gives them power over you.

It is a pity to reach the ocean, and to be satisfied with a little pitcherful from the sea. After all, there are pearls in the sea, and from the sea come a myriad of precious things. What is the value in just taking water? What pride can intelligent people have in that? This world is a mere foam fleck of the True Sea. That Ocean is the science of the saints, and within that Water is the Pearl Itself.

This world is but foam full of floating jetsam. Yet, through the turning of the waves, and the rhythmic surging of the sea in constant motion, this foam takes on a certain beauty. But this beauty is a borrowed thing coming from elsewhere. It is a false coin that sparkles to the eye.

People are the astrolabe of God, but it requires an astronomer to use the astrolabe. If a vegetable-seller or a greengrocer should find the astrolabe, what good would it do them? From that astrolabe, what could they know of the movements of the circling stars and the positions of the planets, their influences and so forth? But in the hands of the astronomer, the astrolabe becomes truly valuable.

Just as this copper astrolabe reflects the movements of the heavens like a mirror, so the human being is the astrolabe of God.

"We have honored the children of Adam."

Those who have been moved by God to see the one reality and learn Its ways through the astrolabe of their own being, behold moment by moment, flash by flash, the testament of God. Indeed, it is an infinite beauty that never leaves their mirror.

God has servants who cloak themselves in a wisdom, knowingness and grace invisible to others. Out of their excessive jealousy and love for God these servants cloak themselves, just like Mutanabbi says of beautiful women:

Figured silks they wore, not to beautify

But to guard their beauty from lustful eyes.

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 7:26 PM  0 Comments

umi stated: Mohammed(S), the great Prophet, once said, “The worst of scholars are those who visit princes, and the best of princes are those who visit scholars. Wise is the prince who stands at the door of the poor, and wretched are the poor who stand at the door of the prince.”

Now, taking the outward sense of these words, people think that scholars should never visit princes or they will become the worst of scholars. That is not the true meaning. Rather, the worst of scholars are those who depend upon princes, and who revolve their life and purpose around the attention and favor of princes. Such scholars take up learning in hopes that princes will give them presents, hold them in esteem, and promote them to office.

Therefore, such scholars improve themselves and pursue knowledge on account of princes. They become scholars from their fear of princes. They subject themselves to the princes’ control. They conform themselves to the plans that princes map out for them. So, whether they visit a prince, or a prince visits them, still in every case they’re the visitors, and it is the prince who is visited.

However, when scholars do not study to please princes, but instead pursue learning from first to last for the sake of truth - when their actions and words spring from the truth they have learned and put to use because this is their nature and they cannot live otherwise - just as fish can only thrive in water - such scholars subject themselves to the control and direction of God. They become blessed with the guidance of the prophets. Everyone living in their time is touched by them and derives inspiration from their example, whether they are aware of the fact or not.

Should such scholars visit a prince, they are still the ones visited and the prince is the visitor, because in every case it is the prince who takes from these scholars and receives help from them. Such scholars are independent of the prince. They are like the light-giving sun, whose whole function is giving to all, universally, converting stones into rubies and carnelians, changing mountains into mines of copper, gold, silver and iron, making the earth fresh and green, bringing fruit to the trees, and warmth to the breeze. Their trade is giving, they do not receive. The Arabs have expressed this in a proverb: "We have learned in order to give, we have not learned in order to take." And so in all ways they are the visited, and the prince is the visitor.

The thought comes to me at this point to comment on a verse of the Koran, although it is not related to the present discourse. However, this idea comes to me now, and I want to express it so that it can go on record.

"O Prophet, say to the prisoners in your hands.

‘If God knows of any good in your hearts,

He will give you more than He has taken,

And He will forgive you.

Surely God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.’"

This verse was revealed when Mohammed had defeated the unbelievers, slaying, plundering and taking prisoners, whom he tied hand and foot. Amongst the prisoners was his uncle, ‘Abbas. The chained people wept and wailed all night in their helpless humiliation. They had given up all hope of their lives, expecting the sword and slaughter. Mohammed, seeing this, laughed.

"Look!" the prisoners exclaimed. "He shows the traits of a person after all. This claim that he is superhuman is not true. There he stands looking at us prisoners in these chains, enjoying it. Just like everyone ruled by their passions - when they gain victory over their enemies and see their opponents vanquished to their will, they rejoice and feel happiness."

"Not so," answered Mohammed, seeing what was in their hearts. "Never would I laugh at the sight of enemies conquered by my hand, or the sight of your suffering. But I do rejoice, in fact I laugh, because with inner vision I see myself dragging and drawing people by collars and chains, out of the black smoke of Hell into Paradise, while they complain and cry, ‘Why are you pulling us from this pit of self-destruction into that garden of security?’ So, laughter overcomes me.

"But since you have not yet been granted the vision to see what I am saying, listen. God commands me to say this to you: First you gathered your forces and mustered your might, trusting completely in your own virtue and valor. You said to yourselves, ‘We will conquer the Muslims and vanquish them.’ But you did not see that One Power more powerful than yourselves. You did not know the One Force above your force. And so all that you planned turned out the opposite. Even now in your fear, you still hold onto your beliefs and do not see the One Reality over you. Rather than facing that Power, you see my power, because it is easier for you to see yourselves conquered by me.

"But even in your present state, still I say to you: If you recognize my power, and accept yourselves vanquished to my will in all circumstances, I can still deliver you from this grief. He, who is able to bring forth a black bull from a white bull, can also produce a white bull from a black bull. Turn away from your former ways, and likewise I will return to you all the property that has been taken from you, in fact many times as much. Even more, I will absolve you of all blame, and grant you prosperity in this world and the world to come."

"I have repented," said ‘Abbas. "I have turned from my former ways."

Mohammed said, "God demands a token of this claim you make, for easy it is to boast of love, but other is the proof thereof."

"In Allah’s name, what token do you demand?" asked ‘Abbas.

"Give all the properties that remain to you for the army of Islam, so the army of Islam may be strengthened," said Mohammed. "That is, of course, if you have truly become a Muslim and desire the good of Islam and Muslimdom."

"Prophet of God, what remains to me?" said ‘Abbas. "They have taken everything, leaving me not so much as an old reed-mat."

"You see," said Mohammed, "you have not yet given up your old ways. You have not yet seen the light of truth. Should I tell you how much property you still have? Where you have hidden it? To whom you have entrusted it? Where you concealed and buried it?"

"God forbid!" exclaimed ‘Abbas.

"Did you not entrust so much property specifically to your mother?" asked Mohammed. "Did you not bury your gold under such and such a wall? Did you not tell your mother in detail, ‘If I return, give this back to me. But if I do not return safely, then spend so much upon such and such an object, and give so much to So-and-So, and so much is to be for yourself’?"

When ‘Abbas heard these words he raised his hand in complete acceptance. "Prophet of God," he said, "truly, I have always thought you carried the fortune of the old kings, such as Haman, Shaddad, Nimrod and the rest. But now that you have spoken I know this favor is divine, from the world beyond, from the throne of God."

"Now you have spoken truly," said Mohammed. "This time I have heard the snapping of the girdle of doubt, that you had within you. I have an ear hidden within my inmost Soul, and with that hidden ear I can hear the snapping of doubt within anyone. Now it is true for a fact that you believe."

I have told this story to the Amir for this reason: In the beginning you came forward as a champion of Muslimdom. "I ransom myself," you said. "I sacrifice my own desires, considerations and judgement so that Islam will remain secure and strong." But because you put your trust in your own plans, loosing sight of God, and forgetting that all things proceed from God, all your intentions have turned out the opposite. Having struck a bargain with the Tartars, you are unintentionally giving them assistance to destroy the Syrians and the Egyptians, which in the end may bring ruin to the realm of Islam. So God has turned this plan you made for the survival of Islam, into its own destruction.

Turn your face to God, for things are in a dangerous condition. Yet, even in your present state, my friend, do not give up hope, but look to God and give yourself up to Its will. You thought your own strength of spirit proceeded from yourself, just as ‘Abbas and the prisoners did, thus you have fallen into weakness. But do not give up hope, because He, who can produce weakness from strength, can bring forth an even greater strength from this weakness. Just as Mohammed rejoiced during the prisoners’ grief, so too I find joy in your present embarrassment, because from this weakness and suffering can come something greater than has been lost. Therefore, do not give up hope, for

"Of God

’s comfort no one despairs,

Except the unbelievers."

My purpose in speaking this way to the Amir was so that he could see the matter correctly, and accept the will of God humbly. He has fallen out of an exceedingly high state into a low state, yet in this way he may grow. Life can show the most wonderful things, but behind all of them lies a trap should we forget the source of this wonder. God has devised this plan so that we will learn not to claim, out of arrogance and vanity, these ideas and plans as our own.

If everything were in truth as it appears to be, Mohammed, endowed as he was with a vision so penetrating, so illuminated, would never have cried,

"Lord, show me things as they are.

You show a thing as fair, and in reality it is ugly.

You show a thing as ugly, and in truth it is beautiful.

Show us everything just as it is,

So that we will not fall into the snare."

Now, your judgement, however good and luminous it may be, is certainly not better than the Prophet’s judgement. So do not put your trust in every idea and every notion, but only in God and Its wisdom.

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 12:50 AM  0 Comments

NOTES:

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 12:11 AM  0 Comments

Why do you insist on being a fool?

Running after Gold and Glitter

When your own soul is a Gold mine

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 11:09 PM  0 Comments

I know not my religion  is improving or getting worse

I am not  even a Human 

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 5:27 AM  1 Comments

You where terrific

You shed your sweat and blood

For a place called world

Now this world salutes you

May you rest in peace “o” blind lover?

Have you found your beloved?

And has she embraced you in her arms?

Sufi786

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 11:30 AM  0 Comments

Fools laugh

Wise weep

 This world will end

Then the fools shall reap their ignorance

And wise their wisdom

Sufi786

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 11:09 AM  0 Comments

Know the self

The self came from Heaven

Reaching for the heights of Wisdom is its true potential

Those who are ignorant of this

Will always evolve into an animal

Sufi786

# posted by abdul raheem syed ( Sufi786) : 11:01 AM  0 Comments