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There was once a story about a wagon driver who fell asleep while leading his horses. His horses went on their own and landed in a deep pit. Suddenly the wagon driver woke up and saw that he was now stuck in a deep muddy pit.
He jumped off his carriage and started pulling and pulling but nothing helped, the wagon did not budge. People passed by and told him to bring a lift to pull the wagon out.
He listened and went to a nearby city to get a lift. The wagon was easily removed from the pit. Pleased with himself the wagon driver thought, “What do I need horses for? Horses need to be fed and cared for, yet in the end they abandon me, only the lift helped me!”
What did he do? He sold his horses and bought a lift. He placed his wagon on the lift and sat down but the wagon did not move…
They told him “This is not wise!!” the lift can only lift the wagon, but only horses can pull and go…
We just went through Ramadan, but that was only a lift. We need to occupy ourselves with a constant and regular schedule to be able to go on and be successful. Daily prayers, learning something new each day, to uplift ourselves and to be able to find our way to the right goal.
Let’s find a good coach and a good friend to teach us how.
By Binyamin Jadidi
Wulfruna Sufi Association wishes our Jewish brothers and sisters a happy, blessed and peaceful new year! May it herald a time of peace, conciliation and unity for the Jewish people and all humanity!
Vancouver Canada April 2005 – Shaykh Hisham Kabbani speaks at an interfaith event about the reality of human beings, the meaning of real love, tolerance, acceptance and the human potential.
WOLVERHAMPTON INTER FAITH COUNCIL
PRAYERS FOR PEACE 2009
St Peters Collegiate Church, 25.01.2009
MUSLIM PRAYER:
Read by Paul Salahuddin Armstrong
Prophet’s Prayer For The Envious People
O Thou that givest aliment and power and stability,
Set free the people from their instability.
To the soul that is bent double by envy
Give uprightness in the path of duty,
Give them self-control, “weigh down their scales,”
Release them from the arts of deceivers.
Redeem them from envying, O gracious One,
That through envy they be not stoned like Iblis.
Even in their fleeting prosperity, see how the people
Burn up wealth and men through envy!
See the kings who lead forth their armies
To slay their own people from envy!
Lovers of sweethearts have conceived jealousy,
And attempted one another’s lives,
Read “Wais and Ramin” and “Khosrau and Shirin”
To see what these fools have done to one another.
Lovers and beloved have both perished;
And not themselves only, but their love as well.
‘Tis God alone who agitates these nonentities
Making one nonentity fall in love with another.
In the heart that is no heart envy comes to a head,
Thus Being troubles nonentity.
From Rumi’s Masnavi
“qul acodhu bi- rabb al- falaq
min sharr maa khalaqa
wa- min sharr ghaasiq ‘idhaa waqaba
wa- min sharr an- naffaathaat fe al- cuqad
wa- min sharr h.aasid ‘idhaa h.asada”
“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn,
From the mischief of created things;
From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;
From the mischief of those who practice Secret Arts;
And from the mischief of the envious one as he practices envy”
Holy Qur’an 113 “Surah Al-Falaq”
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani | Sunday, Mar 18, 2007 | Los Angeles, CA US
We as communities and people who love peace must always come to such meetings in order to find ourselves because when you share with each other then you can understand more about yourself and about the others. You can find your mistakes from the others when they advise you and they can find their mistakes when you advise them; and that’s what keeps everything in harmony. That is what Rumi meant when he said “I don’t know myself, I am a Zoroastrian or I am Muslim or I am Christian or I am Jew or I am this or I am that… I am everything”. It means let us share, let us be together, let us mix together, let us mingle together, let us unite together in order that we can bring a happy musical life to humanity.
I traveled mostly everywhere around the world. I met presidents, politicians, ministers, prime ministers, ambassadors, kings, princes, princesses, every kind of life, work of life, normal people, common people, and I found what Prophet (peace be upon him) said to be indeed the truth: “human beings are equal like the teeth of the comb”. What would be the difference between a king and a normal, poor person? Nothing. Both of them are going to die one day. Both of them are going to be buried one day. What brings them together is that Love, if they love each other, if that relationship grows with each other. It keeps the memories, it keeps the reputation, and it keeps the good character. That is what’s left behind. There is nothing else left behind. And we all go where God wants us to go. And that is why Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and peace be upon all other prophets, said: “there is no difference between human beings; they are equal as the teeth of the comb are equal. There is no difference except in righteousness, there are only different in righteousness, i.e., sincerity, piety or “taqwa” in Arabic.
That is our message today and I hope that I was able to find myself through you because it awakens me up to look into my mistakes and try to correct myself. When I look at history I find all these interfaith events. Today they say we have to make interfaith, and interfaith is important. Of course it is important and it happened in many religions and in many beliefs before. It happened and integrated with every one. Every one is like a candle and every candle is unique. This one is red, this one is yellow, this one is white. Everyone is happy with his candle and all of them give a flame; indeed they all give a light. So let everyone be everyone. Let him or her be himself or herself but let us be together. Like these flowers, white and red [Shaykh Kabbani points at two flowers in front of him], they are together and thus give a nice flavor. If they were both red it would only be one flavor. They are many colors, different flavors. We are different colors: one Garden with different colors. That is what is important. May God bless you and may God support all of us and may God help us to find ourselves.
I was planning to keep you for one hour and a half but I found these words important and I think if we can find ourselves we can achieve a lot. Let us take this lesson with us and go to that written board when we are going outside. I didn’t’ read what is written under; I read only “lost and found”. And I don’t know… she might know what it means [addressing someone in the audience]. So read that word “lost and found” because we cannot find ourselves if we are not lost. To be “lost” is a requirement. Don’t say “no, oh we don’t want to be lost”. No, it’s OK; lose yourself for some time, especially teenagers because they think they have to be lost. Because you have to know that you cannot taste sweetness without tasting sourness. Tasting sourness gives you an indication of how important sweetness is. Consider how much you can feel the happiness in you when you begin to feel the sweetness. A little bit of sweetness after a lot of sourness and you find yourselves very happy.
And I was explaining yesterday the difference of sweetness in our beliefs. I said that there is a sour belief: you believe there is a Reality you believe there is God but your beliefs are sour, they are not ripe yet, like some fruits that are not ripe. So you see them but you don’t taste them. So there is a belief that is sour and there is a belief that is very sweet and sugary because it has sugar in it. And in between these two there might be a belief that is sweet with Splender or with Equal or with Sweet-N-Low [brands of artificial sugars]; so it gives you taste but it is not yet giving you the energy. It is empty, there is nothing in it. So if we don’t become lost we cannot taste. And this is why Rumi said “I am looking for myself where I can find myself”. This is why Buddha was saying “I want to look to find myself, to find Reality”. And this is why every person is asking to find Reality. Prophet Sayyidina Muhammad (peace be upon him) was going into the cave every year in order to find himself until he reached 40 years of age and Archangel Gabriel came as he came for Jesus and came for Moses.
So all traditions were looking for Reality but first they felt the sourness because they were lost. When we are lost and can look into sweetness to find ourselves then our life become so sweet. Many people have difficulties nowadays because they are lost. Why didn’t Rumi have difficulty? His only difficulty was the pain of Love that was keeping him away from the Divine Presence. He didn’t have difficulty eating and drinking. But he had difficulty finding himself. O beloved brothers and sisters let us pray all together in different religions and beliefs that God may give us a revelation or an inspiration to our hearts to find ourselves.
May God bless you and thank you very much. Wa salaamu aleykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu. (Peace be with you, God’s kindness and blessings!)
Source: SufiLive.com
