In the words of (Moulana) Hakeem Akhtar (Saheb):
Listen dear friends to the story of Moulana Rumi
Who was generally involved with teaching.
While being unaware of the ways of the path (Sulook).
Being involved with external knowledge at all times,
His lecturing pursuits had become famous all around,
While for him hard was the contact with the path.
For arrogance through knowledge keeps the men of knowledge
Far away from recognizing the truth.
For the main object of all knowledge is to attain Divine Love
Apart from that all is mere conceit.
But him on whom Allah's Grace shines,
One day or another he will become Allah's favorite.
In this way Allah's Grace shone on Moulana Rumi
And from the unseen, Allah's help reached him.
All achievements come about through Divine Grace
And without His favor nothing comes about.
From the unseen world Rumi was chosen.
As Shamsh Tabrezi prayed to the Lord:
"Lord, this fire of love burning in my heart,
This restless longing which lies in me,
This fire of truth which is buried in my heart
And all that was granted to me.
O Lord, let there be such a bondsman of Thine
Who in true fashion will be suitable to inherit.
That his heart may become filled with truth
And that I may fill his being with pearls of wisdom.
Let me find such an heir who will be able
To bear the burden of the fire of love in him.
For the burning love within myself
Is like the Mount Toor of love in the heart.
Lord, near indeed is for me the time of parting
To whom shall I leave this trust? O, Beloved."
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From the unseen came the immediate reply:
"O Shamsh Tabrezi, hasten towards Rum.
Go and make Moulana Rumi the Master of Rum.
Let him become unoccupied with the affairs of Rum.
“Thus at the command of the unseen Shamsh proceeded
Towards Rum as commanded from on High.
As he cast his sight upon Moulana Rumi,
Unconscious he fell down on the path.
Forgotten were the robes of knowledge.
Hungry and thirsty was he to be successful on the path.
At one time Moulana Rumi was known
As a man of dignity and splendor.
The one endowed with the special connections of Khwarizm Shah
And also endowed with being a Master of knowledge.
Whenever he had to go anywhere,
Speedily was brought for him the royal sedan' .
And ready for him were soldiers, servants and students
Who in honor and respect accompanied him.
He was used to having his hands and feet kissed
And on all sides he used to be crowded.
Today he fell down unconscious.
Through Divine Love he discarded all signs of pomp and splendor.
What a glance was thrown on him by Shamsh Tabrezi
And through that he became a leader of the Path.
When the Pir of Rum regained consciousness,
He followed the footsteps of Shamsh Tabrezi
Taking his Sheikh's bedding on his head as he walked
Having bought the humility of Love.
When does Divine Love keep a transitory world,
All that became lost in the dust.
For the honor of Divine Love is everlasting honor
And its ecstasy is ecstasy forever.
And upon Jalaluddin Rumi there was
The full effect of the influence of Shamsh Tabrezi
And Shamsh Tabrezi filled the heart of Rumi
With burning love and yaqeen.
From the hands of the Sheikh whatever bounty he found
The Mathnavi is filled with gratitude for that.
Look from what to what Shamsh transformed Rumi,
Through their liaison and company wonders resulted.
It is through the spiritual bounty of Shamsh
That without fear Rumi could dance around with turban tied.
Such an effect was had on the Pir Rumi
As he explains in Mathnavi without any fear.
That Shamsh Tabrezi was a light complete.
He was the sun and he was the lights of truth.
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In the Mathnavi, the fire of Tabrezi burns.
The meanings are Tabrezi, the words Rumi's.
What did Rumi acquire from the hands of Tabrezi (R.A.)?
Ask this of Rumi himself.
But I say, o my friends,
Search for it yourself in the Mathnavi.
( Copied from " A Commentary of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi's Maarif-e-Mathnavi" by Maulana Hakeem Akhtar Saheb (damat barakatuhum))
"But him on whom Allah's Grace shines,
ReplyDeleteOne day or another he will become Allah's favorite"
This phrase reminds me of trouble I've had accepting some theologies throughout my life:
From various vantage points of interpretations within and without the religious perspective.
I'd love to begin a little dialogue about this question:
Why does God choose and call and apparently have favorites?
In some groups, everything is karma, thus, all who suffer deserved it or their ancestors did from other generations, lives, even before they were born.
My faith allows lots of flexibility and trusts Allah...
Yet, I'd love to understand why some feel some are simply blessed by God due to their apparent ease in life while others have been cursed by God due to sins before their birth and/or simply because God is an arbitrary God.
CN, thanx again for reading my post in its entirety:) and subsequently commenting on it...hmmm... so why does God Choose and Call and Have favourites? Firstly, notice that there is no "apparently" in the question I just re-stated...He Does Have Favourites...And His Choosing to call some people as His Favourites is a mere drop of His Infinite Mercy upon whosoever He Makes His Favourite.... I think we should always keep this in mind, in fact, we should keep reminding ourselves that God is God....there would be a zillion things related to Godfor which we will apparently have no direct, elaborate/precise/short/straight-forward and plausible answers, because there is no one absolutely explainable answer for them. For things like these, answers to all the questions stemming from them lie only and only in spiritual experience and that is what makes a person God's True Favourite...... a real spiritual experience.....As Muslims, we have been taught to believe that karma is not everything, however obviously otherwise things may seem...For us Allah Ta'ala's Will and His Decree is what is EVERYTHING.....Having said this, i would like to tell you something which my teacher told me a couple of years ago....one of her students asked her that she has heard that prayers and invocations can change our destiny...( which is true ), so it implies that our actions do have an impact because prayers are a human act by nature, so my teacher told her that the alteration or modification of our destiny through prayers etc is also a part of our destiny....Before going any furthee, i would like to know if you are a Muslim ( I am
ReplyDeletesorry..i know it may sound irrelevant and perhaps, redundant because you have already mentioned that you trust Allah, but I only want to confirm, because I am not well-versed in matters pertaining to the concepts of predestination and freewill, if you want a detailed explanation, you need to consult a religous scholar) Lastly, i think people regarding some as blessed while others as accursed has something to do with their ignorance and utter inability/lack of ability to appreciate the blessings of Allah Ta'ala even during hard times ( this includes their own lows and everybody else's lows), and to fear His Wrath even when things are going fine with them and with everybody else. Read the translation and explanation/commentary of Surah Fajr of Holy Quran. It is in the Juz 30 of the Holy Book. Here Allah Ta'ala Clearly States that the apparent ease or hardship in life is nothing but a trial for a person. Read up on it and if you have any more questions, feel free to drop me a line... and thanx again for visiting my blog.