Islam and the destiny of man
Some of the best bits from the book for me at-least.
Tracks
From The Animal’s Lawsuit against Humanity.
From “The Inseparability of Shariah and Tariqa”
There comes a point in life where each one of us who survives begins to feel like a ghost that has forgotten to die at the right time, and certainly most of us were more amusing when we were young. It seems that age folds the heart in on itself. Some of us walk detached, dreaming on the past, and some of us realize that we have lost the trick of standing in the sun. For many of us the thought of the future is a cause for irritation rather than optimism, as if we have had enough of new things, and wish only for the long sleep that rounds the edges of our lives.
The worship of the eyes is weeping, the worship of the ears is listening, the worship of the tongue is praise, the worship of the hands is giving, the worship of the body is effort, the worship of the heart is fear and hope, and the worship of the spirit is surrender and satisfaction in Allah.
Marks on the Earth
The following passage is taken from Shakyh Zulfiqar’s travelogue From Lahore to Bukhara and Samarqand.
Here we had the opportunity to see many relics associated with Hazrat Attar. All in all, the most fascinating of these was the rock on which he used to pray. This was a white slab about the size of a prayer mat, its surface was soft. The remarkable feature of this rock was that on it were impressed the marks of Hazrat’s prostration- the spots where his feet and forehead used to rest were deeper than the rest of the surface.
This faqir was blessed with the honor of offering two rakat prayer here. It is amazing that our elders worshiped so much that they even wore out a solid rock. As the poet says
So what if you have the mark of prostration on your forehead?
A true prostration is one that leaves a mark on the earth.
Today even our prayer mats made of cloth are not frayed with our used of them. A shaykh used to say that the heart of a person who becomes restless after only a few minutes of sitting on the prayer mat is surely lacking in love and remembrance of Allah SWT. Indeed, the ability to sit in worship is among the great blessings of His.
It is the norm that seekers are first trained to sit patiently in dhikr so that the body becomes supple and habituated to this practice. Sitting in muraqabah for one or two hours at a stretch is a daily routine for seekers who are serious about their progress. It comes in the Quran that
Then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah’s praises. (39:23)
This verse illustrates that the body must become accustomed to sitting in dhikr before the heart is trained for it. The seeker who does not even spend 10 to 15 minutes in muraqabah must know that he/she is wasting his/her time. Today’s seekers make tall calims of love for Allah SWT but cannot spare even a few minutes for His remembrance. Some make the excuse that they cannot find the time in the day for dhikr, which is as ridiculous as Majnun saying that he does not have time to remember Laila.
Translation -
A saint does not fall at the feet of strangers.
A broken star does not plummet to the earth.
With great fervor do rivers drain into the sea.
But never does the sea empty into a river.
Once upon a time in a serene desert oasis where date palms swayed in a gentle breeze and sparrows flitted between the silvery fronds and camels ambled on dusty roads and the smokey air from wood fires wafted from mud dwellings, Al-Mustafa, the last and final Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam was walking with a group of children jostling and laughing around him. His noble hand patting their heads, taking their hands with his softer than silk hands, challenging them to race with each other. The dust swirled and billowed with his sweet fragrance and those who later passed this way would know that the Beloved Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam had been there. Delicate whispering of praise could be heard from the stones and rocks.
“And were a group of riders to follow Him, His sweet fragrance would be enough to guide them”
ﺻﻠﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ
Shaykh Zulfiqar on how dogs are in a better state than us.
Shaykh Zulfiqar mentions dogs and how they are much better than us for in them they contain 10 qualities that if we were to adopt even one of these qualities we would become lovers/walis of Allah SWT. One of the qualities he mentions is that of Zuhd (asceticism) that a dog (well stray dog) roams around raggedly without a care in the world and where ever he finds shelter he stays there and the next day he moves on. He does not complain nor is he ungrateful and just like that he continues with his life, he is detached from this world and it’s happenings. Another quality he mentions of a dog is that the dog is obedient (aabid) he will watch and guard his master all night without ever complaining once. He mentions a beautiful story about the loyalty of a dog to his owner and how a dog is more loyal to it’s master than us. A dog used to accompany his master to a train station every day, one day the master passed away in an accident in another town and failed to come back. The dog would visit the train station every day for 9 years in anticipation for his master to return but he never returned. If this is the state of a dog and it’s loyalty to it’s master than our states are in serious need of rectification. He ends the story with a beautiful punjabi shair (english translation below) -
You remain awake at night and are called ‘Shaykh’
The dog that remains awake at night is better than you,
It eats bland, dry food and sleeps during the under the tree shade,
It is better than you,
It leaves not the doorstep of its master, even if beaten a hundred times,
It is better than you,
O ingrate, you sleep upon a soft bed, whilst the dog sleeps on stone,
It is better than you,
Rise and win over your Friend,
Otherwise, the dog will have outdone you
Source and complete post -
https://theconquerorofhearts.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/lower-than-the-animals/
