#galbmumin

To separate oneself from things of time and to connect oneself with things of eternity is highest wisdom.

The Thief and the Saint There was once a friend of Allah, who lived perhaps 500 to 600 years ago, in Khorasan. He spent his nights in remembrance and reflection, and was very pious one. One night, as usual, he was the only one awake in his village, doing Zikir. While in the midst of his devotions, he heard a strange sound, like a rope landing on a rooftop, and so he walked over to his window to check on the source of the sound. To his surprise, he saw a man attempting to climb over the wall of his neighbour’s house. Realising that this was a robbery-in-progress, the Saint shouted at the top of his lungs, “Thief, there is a thief here!” The villagers awoke to the sound of his cries, grabbed their sticks and dashed out of their houses. The thief was startled to see an armed crowd gather so quickly, and he let himself down expertly and deftly disappeared into the darkness. Despite chasing him, and searching in the neighbouring wilderness, they could find no trace of him – so expert was this thief! After all the villagers had returned to their houses and slept, the Saint continued to ponder about the incident, and felt deeply affected by it. He felt very sorry for the would-be burglar. He thought to himself, “He left his home today, full of hope that he would get a good yield. He worked so hard, planned so meticulously, stayed up all night – and now, his heart must be full of disappointment and sadness, for all his effort had gone unrewarded.” He was so overcome by pity for the thief, that he decided to go look for him, to console him. Though it was in the dead of night, and the thief had hidden himself well, the Saint (using his special grant from Allah) was able to seek him out and locate him in the wilderness. The man was still panting furiously from his escape, and looked stunned to see the Saint, who had found him despite his best efforts to hide. Burglar The Story of the Thief and the Saint “Assalamu’alaikum!” The Saint greeted the thief respectfully. “You may not remember me,” he continued, “but I am an old friend of yours.” “Really?” replied the thief warily, “I don’t remember you.” “It was from a very long time ago indeed. I know you from back then, you are a courageous man indeed. There are two types of courage – the courage to face an enemy and battle him, and the courage to run away,” said the Saint. Of course there was no such thing as ‘running away courageously’, but the Saint wanted this man to feel good about the escape that he just did. The Saint kept talking, calming the man down, and winning his confidence with well chosen words. “What happened just now was unfortunate,” said the Saint, with a sparkle in his eyes, “but I know of another target that will suit you well. It is a house which has low walls, unlike the one with high walls that you tried to rob earlier. It is so low that you needn’t use a rope; in fact, I will let you climb on my back to enter it. This house has many things worth robbing, and the owner is presently not home.” The thief was very sceptical at first, but eventually, the Saint convinced him to have a go at robbing this second house, together. They crept up to the targeted house, and, when the thief inspected it, he could see that the Saint had indeed been telling the truth – the walls were low, and there appeared to be no one home. Climbing on the back of the Saint, the thief entered the house, and proceeded to steal everything in the house – even the Jubbah, the Turban, and all the crockery in the kitchen were taken. He passed all his stolen goods to his awaiting accomplice, the Saint, who then helped him pack and tie everything up securely. Once the entire heap was safely on the thief’s back, the Saint urged him to run away quickly, before the owner came back. Giving the thief a good head start, the Saint then shouted to alert the neighbours again that a robbery had taken place, but by the time everyone awakened and came out of their homes, the thief was long gone, with his prize catch of the night! The thief was really happy that he would not be going home empty-handed that night. And it never crossed his mind, that he had robbed the house of the Saint himself! For indeed, the Saint had helped the thief rob his very own house, as he could not bear the thought of the thief leaving brokenhearted, after his earlier botched attempt.

Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.

Just as a GPS guides you to the place you want to go to, Nabi Muhammad is your guiding direction to Allah (swt). If a satellite above earth can take you from here to there using a GPS, would not Allah give this ummah Nabi Mohammed to guide mu’mineen to Heaven?

إذا أراد الله بعبد خيرا جعل له واعظا من قلبه Idha araada-Llaha bi-`abdan khayran ja`ala lahu wa`izhan min qalbih. If Allah wants goodness for a servant of His, He will make for him an advisor in his heart.

Using his powers to attain to knowledge can raise him up to the ranks of Angels. Following desire he is brought down to the level of beasts.

Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved. Do not be like the deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens. What good is an increase in wealth when life grows ever shorter? Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you in your grave when your family, weatlh, children and friends stay behind.