Abid Iqbal Khari’s

In the middle of the 13th Century, the revered scholar Jelaluddin Rumi was walking through the marketplace of Konya leading a group of his students when a man ragged and dusty from travel approached him. Their eyes met and locked with fierce but hazy recognition. The first words out of the traveler’s mouth posed a question that would forever change both men’s lives.

For years, a religious rebel named Shams of Tabriz had traveled from town to town quizzing every scholar he met. He was searching for a teacher but none had the answers he sought. While all quoted from books and scripture, no one spoke from the heart, from personal experience. Shams wanted to go beyond books to the heart of God, through the heart of man. Everywhere he went, the townspeople called him crazy, a blasphemer, and he pitied them.

His searching took Shams to Konya, in what is now the country of Turkey. Upon encountering the famous scholar in the middle of the marketplace, Shams wasted no time in challenging Rumi. “Who is greater, the prophet Mohammed or the great teacher Betsami?”

Without hesitation Rumi answered, “of course, the prophet Mohammed.”

Shams had to see what Rumi was made of, so he took his questioning one step further. “Betsami, the distinguished teacher, said ‘I am great because God is within me,’ whereas Mohammed said, ‘God is great in His infinite mercy.’ How would you explain this?”

Overcome by the personal significance of this question, Rumi fell to his knees. Shams had just unlocked a door deep within Rumi’s soul. Even though he was considered one of the greatest scholars of his time, Rumi found little solace in his holy books. He had settled into life as a teacher but felt spiritually unfulfilled. Finding Shams was unexpected and astonishing. In that instant Rumi knew that no book could teach him what this soul could.

When Rumi regained his composure he answered Shams saying, “Betsami limited his understanding to one aspect of God’s greatness. He was secure in what he knew and sought no further. Mohammed, on the other hand, was a seeker who recognized the vast infiniteness of the Creator. His perception of God was not limited to one idea or ideal. The more he knew God the more he recognized he did not know, and so he kept seeking. Mohammed said of God, ‘We do not know you as we should.’”

Shams extended his arms and the two embraced. They recognized in each other a yearning to know God of an intensity that was equal one to the other. Rumi was captivated by this wild vagabond and eagerly welcomed Shams into his life.

The Princess was of ancient line,
Of royal race was she;
Like cameo her face was fine,
With sad serentiy:
Yet bent she toiled with dimming eye,
Her rice and milk to buy.

With lacework that for pity plead,
So out of date it seemed,
She sought to make her daily bread,
As of her past she dreamed:
And though sometimes I heard her sigh,
I never knew her cry.

Her patient heart was full of hope,
For health she gave God thanks,
Till one day in an envelope
I sealed a thousand francs,
And ‘neath her door for her to see
I slipped it secretly.

‘Twas long after, I came to know
My gift she never spent,
But gave to one of greater woe,
And wearily she went . . .
To be of charity a part,–
That stabbed her to the heart.

For one dark day we found her dead:
Oh she was sweet to see!
Exalted in her garret bed
With face like ivory . . .
Aye, though from lack of food she died,
Unflawed she flagged her pride.

Every heart that is not aflame is no heart;
A frozen heart is nothing but a handful of clay.
O God! Give me a breast that sets ablaze,
And in that breast a heart and that heart consumed with fire.

With God There is no Room for Two Egos,
You say ‘I’, and He says ‘I’,
In Order for this duality to disappear, Either you must die for Him or He for you.
Since it’s not possible, however, for Him to die — either phenomenally or conceptually–because ”He’s the Ever-living who dieth not”,
you must die so that He may be manifested to you,
thus eliminating the duality.

(Golden Words by Maulana Roomi)

I don’t need
a companion who is
nasty sad and sour

the one who is
like a grave
dark depressing and bitter

a sweetheart is a mirror
a friend a delicious cake
it isn’t worth spending
an hour with anyone else

a companion who is
in love only with the self
has five distinct characters

stone hearted
unsure of every step
lazy and disinterested
keeping a poisonous face

the more this companion waits around
the more bitter everything will get
just like a vinegar
getting more sour with time

enough is said about
sour and bitter faces
a heart filled with desire for
sweetness and tender souls
must not waste itself with unsavory matters

Ghazal (Ode) 119
Translation by Nader Khalili
“Rumi, Fountain of Fire”
Burning Gate Press, Los Angeles, 1994

Bhijjo, sijjo kambly! Allah warso meeinh!
Jaey millan tinhaan sajnaan tutto naaheen neeinh. (Baba Fareed)

Baba jee says: Blanket get wet; get drenched! Allah!let the rain fall (in torrents).
(My commitment is firm) so (come what may) I’ll go (walking through muddy lanes) and my love will not end (in frustration or despair) (our relationship will not break)

In this couplet Baba jee finally determines to proceed on the right path leading to the Beloved spurning on the difficulties and turmoils and troubles of this path and willing to undergo all rigours of the saintly path, the poet decides (or chooses to be ) firm in upholding his love and commitment with the Beloved. A true saint never bothers about the hardships on the way to his Beloved’s home-the ultimate destinantion. Similarly, a sincere lover also over rides all hindrances and hurdles and unmindful of calumny, treads on the path leading to his sweetheart’s residence.

• People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.
• If we are incapable of finding peace in ourselves, it is pointless to search elsewhere.
• The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
• A change of heart changes everything.
• Our greatest glory is not in ever falling, but in rising every time we fall.
• You only live once - but if you work it right, once is enough.
• One generation plants trees, and the next enjoys the shade.
• It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.

You have been exploring the path of the stars but remain unaware of your own self. Sometime, take some time to look into your own self like a seed which comes out of the ground to be a tree. (As a seed has a potential to be a big tree, a man has a potential to be and do something great in the universe. But man has to find out that potential within. He/she has to ponder and know thyself.)

‘O wise man! The real asset of a nation is not money, material resources, silver and gold. Its real wealth is its youth who must be healthy, visionary, hardworking, vigilant and active.’ ___ Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (Poet Philosopher of the East)

If you have the reason (wisdom) capable of comprehending intricacies, restrain from writing ‘black words’ in your account book (or perform no evil deeds). Look within yourself and realize your misdeeds.

Baba Farid, the Sufi poet, quite persuasively advises people to refrain from misdeeds and sins. The words ‘kaaley leykh’ symbolize wrong doings, sins, evils, foul plays, deceits, frauds, injustices, tyranny etc. In fact they suggest all sorts of evil acts committed by people in this world. Baba Jee believes that man is a responsible being and it is he who chooses between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. He is not ‘doomed’ but chooses his own ‘doom’. That’s why Bab Jee advises us to refrain from committing sins which he refers to as ‘kaaley leykh’. He also advises us to look within ourselves and grasp what we have done. Consciousness of sins may lead to repentance which will pave the way for ultimate salvation through Divine Grace. Looking within refers to ’self accountability or knowing and judging ourselves.
Translation by Sajjad Sheikh

At last, we all will be sleeping in the graves. Before that, why not to turn events beneath the sky so that our voice reaches to God.

A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.

A book holds a house of gold.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.

A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.

A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.

A filthy mouth will not utter decent language.

A fool judges people by the presents they give him.

A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.

A nation’s treasure is in its scholars.

A rat who gnaws at a cat’s tail invites destruction.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Be the first to the field and the last to the couch.

Dig the well before you are thirsty.

Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil.

Do not employ handsome servants.

Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.

Don’t open a shop unless you like to smile.

Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

He who is drowned is not troubled by the rain.

He who strikes the first blow admits he’s lost the argument.

If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

If you bow at all, bow low.

If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it.