SERMON 160
Praise of Allah
Allah's verdict is judicious
and full of wisdom. His pleasure implies protection and mercy. He decides
with knowledge and forgives with forbearance.
O' my Allah! Praise be to
Thee for what Thou takest and givest and for that from which Thou curest
or with which Thou afflictest; praise which is the most acceptable to
Thee, the most like by Thee and the most dignified before Thee; praise
which fills all Thy creation and reaches where Thou desirest; praise which
is not veiled from Thee and does not end, and whose continuity does not
cease.
Greatness of Allah
We do not know the reality
of Thy greatness except that we know that thou art Ever-living and
Self-subsisting by Whom all things subsist. Drowsiness or sleep do not
overtake Thee, vision does not reach Thee and sight does not grasp Thee.
Thou seest the eyes and countest the ages. Thou holdest (people as slaves)
by foreheads and feet.
We see Thy creation and
wonder over it because of Thy might, and describe it as (a result of) Thy
great authority; whereas what is hidden from us, of which our sight has
fallen short, which our intelligence has not attained, and between which
and ourselves curtains of the unknown have been cast, is far greater.
He who frees his heart (from
all other engagements) and exerts his thinking in order to know how Thou
established Thy throne, how Thou created Thy creatures, how Thou suspended
the air in Thy skies and how Thou spread Thy earth on the waves of water,
his eyes would return tired, his intelligence defeated, his ears eager and
his thinking awander.
A part of the same sermon about hope and fear in Allah.
He claims according to his
own thinking that he hopes from Allah. By Allah, the Great, he speaks a
lie. The position is that his hope (in Allah) does not appear through his
action although the hope of every one who hopes is known through his
action.
Every hope is so, except the
hope in Allah, the Sublime, if it is impure; and every fear is established
except the fear for Allah if it is unreal.
He hopes big things from
Allah and small things from men but he gives to man (such consideration
as) he does not give to Allah. What is the matter with Allah, glorified be
His praise? He is accorded less (consideration) than what is given to His
creatures. Do you ever fear to be false in your hope in Allah? Or do you
not regard Him the centre of your hope? Similarly, if a man fears man he
gives him (such consideration) out of his fear which he does not give to
Allah. Thus, he has made his fear for men ready currency while his fear
from the Creator is mere deferment or promise. This is the case of every
one in whose eye this world appears big (and important) and in whose heart
its position is great. He prefers it over Allah, so he inclines towards
it, and becomes its devotee.
The example of the Holy Prophet
Certainly, in the Prophet of
Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his progeny) was
sufficient example for you and a proof concerning the vices of the world,
its defects, the multitude of its disgraces and its evils, because its
sides had been constrained for him, while its flanks had been spread for
others; he was deprived of its milk and turned away from its adornments.
The example of Musa (Moses)
If you want, I will, as a
second example, relate to you concerning Musa, the Interlocutor of Allah
(p.b.u.h.) when he said: O' Allah! I need whatever good Thou mayest grant
me (Qur'an, 28:24). By Allah, he asked Him only for bread to eat because
he was used to eating the herbs of the earth, and the greenness of the
herbs could be seen from the delicate skin of his belly due to his
thinness and paucity of his flesh.
The example of Dawud (David)
If you desire I can give you
a third example of Dawud (p.b.u.h.). He is the holder of the Psalms and
the reciter among the people of Paradise. He used to prepare baskets of
date palm leaves with his own hands and would say to his companions:
"Which of you will help me by purchasing it?" He used to eat barley bread
(bought) out of its price.
The example of `Isa (Jesus)
If you desire I will tell
you about `Isa (p.b.u.h.) son of Maryam (Mary). He used a stone for his
pillow, put on coarse clothes and ate rough food. His condiment was
hunger. His lamp at night was the moon. His shade during the winter was
just the expanse of earth eastward and westward. His fruits and flowers
were only what grows from the earth for the cattle.
He had no wife to allure
him, nor any son to give grief, nor wealth to deviate (his attention), nor
greed to disgrace him. His two feet were his conveyance and his two hands
his servant.
Following the example of the Holy Prophet
You should follow your
Prophet, the pure, the chaste, may Allah bless him and his descendants. In
him is the example for the follower, and the consolation for the seeker of
consolation. The most beloved person before Allah is he who follows His
Prophet and who treads in his footsteps. He took the least (share) from
this world and did not take a full glance at it.
Of all the people of the
world he was the least satiated and the most empty of stomach. The world
was offered to him but he refused to accept it. When he knew that Allah,
the Glorified, hated a thing, he too hated it; that Allah held a thing
low, he too held it low; that Allah held a thing small, he too held it
small. If we love what Allah and His Prophet hate and hold great what
Allah and His prophet hold small that would be enough isolation from Allah
and transgression of His commands.
The Prophet used to eat on
the ground, and sat like a slave. He repaired his shoe with his hand, and
patched his clothes with his hand. He would ride an unsaddled ass and
would seat someone behind him. If there was a curtain on his door with
pictures on it he would say to one of his wives. "O' such-and-such, take
it away out of my sight because if I look at it I recall the world and its
allurements." Thus, he removed his heart from this world and destroyed its
remembrance from his mind.
He loved that its
allurements should remain hidden from his eye so that he should not secure
good dress from it, should not regard it a place of stay and should not
hope to live in it. Consequently, he removed it from his mind, let it go
away from his heart and kept it hidden from his eyes. In the same way he
who hates a thing should hate to look at it or to hear about it.
Certainly there was in the
Prophet of Allah all that would apprise you of the evils of this world and
its defects, namely that he remained hungry along with his chief
companions, and despite his great nearness the allurements of the world
remained remote from him. Now, one should see with one's intelligence
whether Allah honoured Muhammad (the peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him and his descendants) as a result of this or disgraced him. If he says
that Allah disgraced him, he certainly lies and perpetrates a great
untruth.
If he says Allah honoured
him, he should know that Allah dishonoured the others when He extended the
(benefits of the) world for him but held them away from him who was the
nearest to Him of all men.
Therefore, one should follow
His Prophet, tread in his footsteps and enter through his entrance.
Otherwise he will not be safe from ruin. Certainly, Allah made Muhammad
(the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his descendants) a sign
for the Day of Judgement. a conveyor of tidings for Paradise and a warner
of retribution.
He left this world hungry
but entered upon the next world safe. He did not lay one stone upon
another (to make a house) till he departed and responded to the call of
Allah. How great is Allah's blessing in that He blessed us with the
Prophet as a predecessor whom we follow and a leader behind whom we tread.
The example of himself
By Allah, I have been
putting patches in my shirts so much that now I feel shy of the patcher.
Someone asked me whether I would not put it off, but I said, "Get away
from me." Only in the morning do people (realised the advantage of and)
speak highly of the night journey.
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