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Friends, come, let
us speak of the beloved:
The month of January
has come before as well, with all exquisiteness, its joy, its happiness, its
sadness and sorrow, and its shock of separation, and thus will it continue to
repeat in the future also.
The universe forever
in motion, if ever stopped for even an instant, would dissolve with all its
colour and fragrance into the expanse of its surroundings. In the last ten days
of January, there was not a single eye that was not tearful, and there was not
a single heart that had not lost its beat momentarily. The material world was
in a state of trance, while the heavens carried on a celebration.
On 27"' January
1979, when darkness of the night was eager to dissolve into the light of day,
Qalander Baba Auliya" went into the heavenly embrace of his eternal
Creator.
Once again from the
radiance and purity of holy persons by remembering them. A moment's
companionship with them is greater than a hundred years of sincere obedience,
and after their ascendance into the heavenly world, their remembrance is
greater than a thousand years of sincere devotion. This is because the
remembrance of such divinely acquainted people Colours the entire being of a
person with the realization of closeness with Allah the Exalted.
The Eternal Being,
in order to continue and spread His beneficence, creates such servants who
preach of the transitory nature of this world. It is their mission to maintain
a relationship with the eternal Creator, and to introduce mankind to Him.
In today's sitting,
let us talk of that beloved — that kind soul Kindness towards humanity demands
that the sound waves of the friend who cared for humanity be spread on the
pages of "Voice of a Friend," such that a collective picture emerges
before us.
So said Qalander
Baba Aulia RA:
"Among mankind,
all men, women, children, and the elderly, by virtue of their relation to Adam,
are all creative secrets of the Creator of the universe they are brothers and
sisters; none greater than the other. Only he is worthy of greatness who has a
comprehension of the immensely vast divine knowledge of Allah's attributes; he
in whom Allah's attributes reflect with prominence; and he who is of benefit to
Allah's creatures, and at whose hands, none suffer."
The one who preaches
goodness is good within himself first. Just like a person with bad character
whose heart is corrupt in itself, destroys others or commits other evil because
of his own corruptness.
The fire of anger
first causes irritation in the blood of the one who is angry, so that his
senses are affected and lose their energy, or in other words, his life energy
is destroyed and causes harm to others. Allah the Exalted does not like any
Harm to inflicted on mankind. Allah Almighty states:
"Those
who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger,
and pardon (all) men;-for Allah loves those who do good"
[Holy
Quran, chapter 3: verse 134]
A candle burns
itself first, and when it thus forsakes every moment of its life, moths gather
around and give their lives at this sacrifice of the candle.
How can one who does
not possess intimate knowledge of the divine impart that knowledge to others?
How can one who is penniless and destitute himself, bestow charity on others?
How tragic and
horrifying is the act of being happy at causing others harm, whereas, according
to our relation with Adam and Eve, this act is tantamount to cutting our own
roots. There is only one tree, with countless branches and leaves. If a branch
strikes at the root of its own tree, how foolish an act that would be, as it
thus places itself in harm's way. If happiness is what we ultimately desire,
then how can we ever gain happiness by causing harm to those of our own
species!
Every person is
related to every other person. Every person is acquainted with every other
person because there is an ongoing exchange of "life-giving waves"
among them. In a festive gathering where hundreds of people, oblivious of all
problems, are joyful and happy, a single person's tragedy can bring sadness to
the entire gathering. Why is this so?
This is because all
individuals of the species are attached to other like links on a chain. When
one link weakens, the entire chain weakens; when one link breaks, until the
other link draws close and joins the chain, it can no longer be called by name.
The Holy Quran states:
"And
hold fast, all together, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided." [Holy
Quran chapter 3: verse 103] |
Unity and
brotherhood make for a graceful past, a joyous present, and a bright future.
When an artist draws
a picture, at first he himself enjoys all the details of that picture. If an
artist is not satisfied with his own creation, how can one expect others to be
impressed by it? Not only will others not be impressed, they may start to ridicule
the unworthy work of art, causing frustration, anxiety, and sorrow to the
artist. Do such works which satisfy your own selves, lest your conscience die
out. This is the secret by which you can be a source of guidance for others.
All should try and
struggle their utmost in their everyday affairs, but without concern for the
desired outcome. The outcome should be left to God, since man is a mere pawn in
the game of circumstances. Man is forced to live as his circumstances dictate.
Indeed Allah is omnipotent and has power over all. He has control over
circumstances, and when He wishes, and however He wishes, circumstances change.
If someone causes
you pain, forgive him without hesitation because revenge itself is a calamity.
The desire to take revenge weakens one's senses.
If you have caused
someone pain, seek forgiveness from him, regardless of whether he is young or
old. This is because greatness lies in humbling one's self. In light of the
Holy Quran:
"Man
was an unmentionable thing...Allah breathed into him of His spirit...thus he
turned into a hearing, seeing, [and aware human being]."
[Holy
Quran chapter 76; verses 1-2; chapter :32: verse 9]
What is spirit?
Spirit is Allah’s work. Allah’s work is that when He intends for a thing to
happen He says, “Be,” and it is.
A person who has
doubt in his heart can never be an Aarif [‘one who has intimate divine
knowledge’] because doubt is Satan’s biggest weapon, with which he moves man
away from his spirit. This distance from spiritual traditions closes the doors
of knowledge, awareness, and insight of the divine, on man.
On Godly people,
ascends the heavenly rain of His mercy and His manifestations. The pure light
of their blessings and benevolence illumines a world around them.
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
Science has made immense progress, yet many believe that, even with all of the modern tools at our disposal, human beings function at no more than 10% of their mental capacity. This leads to the question of what exactly it is that comprises the remaining 90%. Yet another question that arises is this: If it has taken man four and a half billion years to be able to apply only 10% of his ability, how long will it take for him to make use of the remaining 90%?