A sufi and a dog story

Photo source: Don't go-Stay there by Arun Kumar Sinha

"Bayazid Bistami"

Bayazid encountered a dog and started to pull his robe away from it, so that it should not defile him.

The dog in a human voice, said :
'If I had been dry, there would have been no purpose in avoiding me. If I had been wet, you could have washed your robe. But the hate which you have towards me can never be cleansed.'

Bayazid said :
'O enlightened dog, come and stay with me for a while.'

The dog answered :
'That is impossible, because the world uses me as an epithet, and you are regarded by the world as a paragon.'

Bayazid exclaimed :
'Alas! I am not fit to live with one whom the whole world regards as inferior: how can I therefore approach the Truth which all regard as the Highest of all?'

~ + ~

Upon being asked: 'What is being a sufi?' Bayazid said :
'Giving up comforts and trying to carry out efforts. That is the practice of the Sufi.'

~+~

Text Source of this Post:
THE WAY OF THE SUFI by Idries Shah , Arakana Penguin Books

Lost but faithful..

At a little hut (cheap restaurant) near Margala Hills, Shamsher was telling me the strange story.

Once upon a time, a man came back to his native village after living for a long time in the city. The train stopped at the little desolate station at a late hour of night. The man disembarked the train. There was complete loneliness. The village was at a little distance from the station. So, the man decided to pass the night at a dilapidated little mosque near the railway station. He entered the mosque and lay down to sleep.

After sometime, he felt as if someone was entering the mosque. He felt the strange man’s voice. He surprised to listen his voice reciting niyya for entering the Fajar (morning) prayer at that hour of night. But he felt as if morning has begun. After sometime time the strange man said niyya for Zuhr (noon) prayer. And the visitor felt as if noon has come and the sunlight entering the mosque. In this way, the man said payers of 5 different times and the time changed in accordance with his prayers. In the last and 5th time, the man said niyya for Isha (night) Prayer and with his niyya the time changed and the night fell again.

The visitor was much surprised and got impressed at this Kirama (short miracle). He decided to see the face of that strange man. The strange man had finished his prayers and now he was going out of the mosque. The visitor rose up and headed toward the strange man to get sight of his face. He again surprised. He was a madman who used to roam around the village streets. A Majzub (obsessed or lost)!

Note: Indefinite source of story

related posts:
Madman's perception
Majnu's Love


(obsession, lost, obsessed, preoccupation, absorption, attention, concentration, malamtia)

Desire end?

THE KASHKUL
From Idries Shah's 'Wisdom of the Idiots'

It is related that a dervish once stopped a king in the street. The king said: 'How dare you, a man of no account, interrupt the progress of your sovereign?'
The dervish answered:
'Can you be a sovereign if you can not even fill my kashkul, the begging bowl?'
He held out his bowl, and the king ordered it to be filled with gold.
But, no sooner was the bowl seen to be full of coins than they disappeared, and the bowl seemed to be empty again.
Sack after sack of gold was brought, and still the amazing bowl devoured coins.
'Stop!' shouted the king, 'for this trickster is emptying my treasury!'
"To you I am emptying your treasury,' said the dervish, 'but to others I am merely illustrating a truth.'
'And the truth?' asked the king.
'The truth is that, the bowl is the desires of man, and the gold what man is given. There is no end to man's capacity to devour, without being in any way changed. See the bowl has eaten nearly all your wealth, but it is still a carved sea-coconut, and has not partaken of the nature of gold in any respect.
'If you care,' continued the dervish, 'to step into this bowl, it will devour you, too. How can a king, then, hold himself as being of any account?'

Knowledge of Sincerity III

THE SUFI AND THE TALE OF HALAKU
(taken from Idries Shah's book, 'Wisdom of the Idiots',)

A sufi teacher was visited by a number of people of various faiths who said to him:
'Accept us as your disciple, for we see that there is no remaining truth in our religions, and we are certain that your are teaching is the one true path.'
The Sufi said:
'Have you not heard of the Mongol Halaku Khan and his invasion of Syria? Let me tell you. The Vizier Ahmad of the Caliph Mustasim of Baghdad invited the Mongol to invade his master's domains. When Halaku had won the battle for Baghdad, Ahmad went out to meet him, to be rewarded. Halaku said: "Do you seek your recompense?" and the Vizier answered, "Yess".
'Halaku told him:
' "You have betrayed your own master to me, and yet you expect me to believe that you will be faithful to me."
He ordered that Ahmad should be hanged.
'Before you ask any one to accept you, ask yourself whether it is not simply because you have not followed the path of your own teacher. If you are satisfied about this, then come and ask to become disciple.'

Concentration: Lost

For God's sake.. Remember your love!!

Laila was a beautiful girl born in a rich family. Being no less than a princess, she was expected to marry a wealthy boy and live in grandeur and splendor. She fell in love with Majnu, a poor lad. The two lovers were banished from seeing each other. Laila's parents married her off to a wealthy boy and she lived in a big mansion. She couldn't bear the separation and committed suicide. Majnu became a madman and ultimately died on Laila's grave. Text Credit: external link



Photo Credit:Mary_K

Majnu's love with Laila was examplary. Majnu gone made after her that he started wandering in the streets of Arabian city

Once majnu crossed in front of the a worshipping man. (according to islamic law, it is not fair to cross a worshiping man within a certain distance because it may divert his concentration towards God). That man scolded majnu for this false. "Majnu replied, I was so much carried away in the love and memory of Laila that I could not differentiate/see if someone were praying in the way. What about you, your concetration towards God..or me?! "