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Friends!
We were never so
badly dependent on each other's prayers as we are today. Every individual in each home is restless and agitated. Have you
ever entertained the question as to why this is so? When moral values break and
disintegrate and a person becomes removed from his spirit, materialism
overpowers and surrounds his being. What is matter?
It is a collection of elements, and is by its nature always changing. Have you
ever witnessed matter stable, in one form? Indeed, it was for the purpose of
bringing about constant change that matter was created. The more a thing
displays change, the further removed it is from truth and reality. There is no
change in truth or reality. Reality stands independent ('Qaaem-bizzat'), without external support. A thing that stands
independent as such is not influenced by the upheaval and the alterations of
the environment. What is a human being? He/she is spirit. What is spirit?
Spirit is the Work (‘amr’) of Allah. What is the work of Allah? Work of Allah
is the Will of Allah. What is Allah's Will is that when he intends to create
something He says, 'Be,' and it is.
Employing
even a little bit of reflection, makes it clear as daylight that we,
individually and collectively, are spirits in the work of Allah. The Work of
Allah is the Will of Allah, and when Allah's Will comes into motion, universal
phenomena begin to arise, and they arise in such large numbers that worldly
counting cannot number them.
Now,
when we look at our environment, the environment of our homes, our sorrowful
lives full of difficulties, our confused, distressful and past-ridden thoughts,
we are left with only one conclusion, that we have imprisoned our lives in a
material bubble. We have severed our relationship with the spirit almost
completely. How unfortunate is humanity that even though it has everything, it
is poor and penniless, empty-handed and close-minded; it has eyes, yet it is
blind. Even though it knows that the relationship with matter is temporary, it has made it its purpose of life.
Everyone
knows that after a set time, no matter what, in the blink of an eye, we will
pass away from this world and will be forced to relinquish all material
comforts and luxuries.
O
mankind! God's Nature has been so gracious and merciful to you that at each
step it has opened doors of knowledge for you, and to take
you in its
protective embrace it has sent one hundred and twenty-four thousand
prophets--Alas, if only you contemplate over what you have gained and what you
have lost!
O
disobedient children of Adam and Eve! You are immersed in that putrid pond of
disobedience where there is only loss for you, both of the world and of the
faith. Indeed, this loss is the impure and unsightly mark of human misfortune.
Friends!
Come,
let us find that inheritance of ours, the weight of which neither the heavens,
nor the earth and the mountains, could bear to carry--that inheritance, before
which the heavens and the earth, the sun, the moon and the stars, all stand in
obedience. This trust [bestowed upon mankind] is present in our spirit, above
and beyond the confines of matter.
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%?
