THE
JOURNEY TO ALLAH IS ENDLESS
-------------------------------------
There was an old man in a village, very poor, but even the
Kings were jealous of him because he had a beautiful white
horse. Kings offered him fabulous prices for the horse, but
the old man would say, "This horse is not a horse, it
is a person. And how can you sell a person, a friend?"
The man was called a fool; but he never sold the horse.
One
morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. The
whole village gathered around him and said: “Lo foolish old
man! We knew that someday the horse would be stolen. It would
have been better to sell it.”
The
old man said: 'do not go too far as to say that. Simply say
that the horse is not in the stable. This is the fact; everything
else is a judgment. Whether it is a misfortune or a blessing
I don't know, who knows what is going to follow it?
People
laughed at the old man. They had always known that he was
a little crazy. But after some days suddenly one night the
horse returned. It was not stolen, it escaped into the wild.
And not only that, it brought with it a dozen of other wild
horses.
The
people gathered and they said, "Old man, you were right,
this was not a misfortune it has indeed proven to be a blessing.'
The
old man said, 'again you are going too far. Just say that
the horse is back. Who knows whether it is a blessing or not?
It is only a fragment. You REMIT A SINGLE WORD IN A SENTENCE
- YOU JUDGE The WHOLE BOOK.'
This
time the people could not say much, but inside they knew that
he was wrong. Twelve beautiful horses had come.
The
old man had an only son who started to train the wild horses.
A week later he fell from a horse and his legs were broken.
The people gathered again, and again they judged. They said
again you have proven to be correct. It was a misfortune,
your only son has lost the use of his legs and in your old
age he was your only support. Now you are poorer than ever."
The
old man said: "You are obsessed with judgment. Don't
go that far. Say only that my son has broken his legs. Nobody
knows whether this is a misfortune or a blessing. Life comes
in fragments and more is never given to you."
It
so happened that after a few weeks the country went to war;
and all the young men of the town were forcibly taken for
the military. Only the old man's son was left because he was
crippled. The whole town was crying and weeping, because it
was a losing fight and they knew most of the young people
would never come back. They came to the old man and they said:
“You were right, old man - this has proven to be a blessing.
Maybe your son is crippled, but he is still with you. Our
sons are gone forever."
The
old man said again "You go on and on judging. Nobody
knows, only say this - that your sons have been forced to
enter into the army and my son has not been forced. But only
Allah, the total, knows whether it is a blessing or a misfortune.
'Judge
ye not' - otherwise you will never become one with the content.
With fragments you will be obsessed with small things you
will jump to conclusions. Once you Judge you will have stopped
growing. Judging means a stale state of mind and the mind
always wants judgment.
In
fact, the journey never ends. One path ends, another begins:
one door closes another opens. You reach a peak; and a higher
peak is always there. The way to Allah is an endless Journey.
Only those are courageous who do not bother about the goal
but are content with the journey. Contentment is just to live
the moment and grow into ice. |