Patience - A hallmark of the Prophet's Family

  

Those spiritual stations that are not achieved by good deeds are achieved by facing hardships.

 

Translation: When Allah Most High desires to give some station to a person and that person cannot achieve that by performing good deeds, then Allah Most High embroils the body in hardships like disease, pain, etc. or hardship through wealth like He makes that person needy by loss of wealth or the children face some hardship i.e. they fall ill or die.

 

When that person is patient on them, then the station which could not be achieved by performing good deeds is achieved by being patient in the face of difficulties.

 

Friends, there are very high stations for those who face hardships.  Others who live in peace cannot achieve them.

 

For this reason the "A’arif" i.e. those who remain in pursuit of the closeness of Allah Most High move forward to buy insult and humiliation wherever they see it.  When they see the slap of hardship, they offer their cheek to it.  When they see the dagger of difficulty, they happily lower their head.

 

They are bursting with happiness on the glad tiding:

 

Be patient in carrying out the orders of Allah Most High, verily We are before your eyes.

 

A certain person went to call upon a saint who was ill.  He saw that this saint was having a lot of different ailments.  To console him he said, the one who is not patient on the hardships given by a friend is not a true Dervish.

 

The saint said: Friend! You are wrong.  Being patient is no big deal.  Instead, who does not feel the pleasure in the hardships given by a friend is not true in love.

 

The saints have taken hardships by asking for them repeatedly.

 

Anecdote:  Once Hadhrat Mansur (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) said in his supplications: Lord! On oath! Open the door of hardships on me.  Put me in various kinds of hardships.  Give me sorrow and sadness on every step of life.  Then see!  If there is any difference in your love, then defame me as a defector of the spiritual path.  Lord! By You!  Even if you cut my body into pieces with a scissor, your love will keep increasing.  It will not decrease.

 

Friends! This eagerness for hardships took Hadhrat Mansur (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) to the gallows.

 

If the slaves are like this, then what about the masters!  And what kind of masters?

 

The 2 leaders of the young men of paradise.

 

Friends! What do you know about the hardships of the Prophet’s Family.  The hearts of those who listen to them turn to water, but the Prophet’s Family are intoxicated and happy with the love of Allah Most High.

 

Anecdote:  Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin Mubarak (May Allah be well pleased with him) says: I started with the intention of Makkah.  I saw on the way that a boy, 10, 12 years of age is walking alone.  I said: Subhanallah! Who is this child in this dismal and desolate forest!

 

Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin Mubarak says: I went to him and greeted him with Salaam.  He returned my Salaam. 

 

I asked: Who are you?

 

He said: A slave of Allah Most High.

 

I asked: Where are you coming from?

 

He said: From Allah Most High.

 

I asked: Where are you going?

 

He said: To Allah Most High.

 

I asked: What do you desire?

 

He said: The approval of Allah Most High.

 

I asked: What is your provision for the journey?

 

He said: Piety is my provision.

 

I asked: Where is the means of conveyance?

 

He said: My means of conveyance are my 2 legs.

 

I asked: This dangerous forest and your young age!  How will it go?

 

He said: Ibn Mubarak! What are you thinking of?  Have you ever seen that someone is going to meet someone and that person troubles him?

 

I said: You are young in age, but by your talk you seem to be very dignified.  What is your name?

 

He said: Ibn Mubarak!  Why do you ask the names of those who are troubled?  What names do the unknown have?

 

I am broken-hearted and feeble with the love of Allah Most High and sorrow.  What do you ask?  We have no name and no customs, no body and no life.  Only an infirm whom love has emaciated.  Very light to look at but in reality, are very weighty.

 

I said: If you don’t want to reveal your name then at least reveal which nation and which clan do you belong to?

 

He drew a sigh and said: We are the troubled people.  We are exiled from our lands.  We are overcome by our enemies. 

 

I said: I can't understand anything.  Please describe in some detail.

 

He said: We are those who serve water to those who come to the Houz-E-Kauthar.  Whoever achieves salvation, achieves it through us.  Whoever befriends us will not remain unfortunate. 

 

After saying this, he vanished from my eyes.  I was very regretful that I could not find out who was he.

 

When I reached Makkah, while circumambulating the Ka’aba, I saw that people are crowded around a saint.  When I went forward, I saw that it was the same person, who had talked to me in the jungle.  People are crowded around him and are asking questions.  He is explaining the complex rules of the Holy Quran and the Hadith and the issues of the people are being solved by them.  I asked the people: Who is this person.  They said: Alas!  You don’t know the one whom even the pebbles of Makkah recognize!  This is the light of the eye of, Hadhrat Hussain (May Allah be well pleased with him), the martyr of Karbala, Imam Zainul A’abideen.  On listening to this, I ran towards him and kissed his hands and feet.  With tears in my eyes, I said: O son of the Prophet of Allah! The troubles of the Ahle Bait, which you described, are true.

 

Friends!  The bare truth is that nobody has faced such hardships that they have faced.  But the Prophet’s Family, they feel pleasure and happiness in these difficulties.

 

 

 [Excerpted from Shahaadatnama of Hadhrat Muhaddith-E-Deccan]