Sincerity

 

Sincerity means that only Almighty Allah should be intent and whatever is done should be done only for the sake of Allah and to gain His pleasure and approval.  There should be no ostentation in it and no desire of the Self.

 

Hadhrat Dhun Noon Misri (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says:  These are the 3 signs of sincerity: That the praise and condemnation of the populace are the same, no ostentation in deeds and leaving the reward (of the deed) to the hereafter.

 

Hadhrat Abul Hasan Poshangi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says:  Sincerity is that attribute which the recording angels cannot record, which Satan, the accursed, cannot destroy and which no one knows of.

 

Each and every deed of ours should be for the Lord Almighty and as per His wishes.  Our desires shouldn’t have any role in them.  This was the custom of our elders and the Lord Almighty is also pleased with this.

 

Anecdote

 

Hadhrat Abul Hasan Noori (May Allah shower His mercy on him) went out to the river Euphrates by coincidence.  He saw that pots of wine were being unloaded from a ship.  He asked people:  What is this?  People said:  This is wine for Motasimbillah who is a great king. 

 

On hearing this, Hadhrat Noori (May Allah shower His mercy on him) got angry.  He took a stick and started breaking the pots.  One by one, he broke all the pots.  Only one was left.

 

As it was for the King himself, Hadhrat Noori (May Allah shower His mercy on him) was taken to the presence of the king.  It was the custom of the king to hold court with a terrifying face.

 

He called Hadhrat Noori (May Allah shower His mercy on him) and asked him:  Why did you do such a thing?

 

He answered:  You already know what I have done.  Why do you ask?

 

The king got angry and said:  Why did you do such a thing?  Are you an inspector?

 

The Shaykh said:  Yes.  I am an inspector.

 

The king asked:  Who appointed you as inspector?

 

The Shaykh said:  The One who made you the king made me an inspector.

 

The king asked:  What proof is there for this?

 

The Shaykh recited the following verse of the Holy Quran:

 

 

The king was much affected by this.  He said:  Okay.  From today, I appoint you as inspector, but tell me, why did you break 9 pots and left 1 intact?

 

The Shaykh said:  When I had broken 9 pots, my Self said to me:  O Abul Hasan!  You have done a very brave thing.  You were intimidated even by the king.  That very moment, I stopped myself.  I had broken 9 pots to please Allah Most High.  Now, it would have been for the sake of my Self.  For this reason, I left 1 pot intact.

 

Just see!  These are those who understand the machinations of the Self.  The plots of the Self are varied, different for the pious and different for the impious.