Topics
Friends!
We were
never so badly dependent on each other's prayers as we are today. Every individual in each home is restless
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 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%?
