KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE

Knowledge said to me, Love is madness;
Love said to me, Knowledge is calculation—
O slave of calculation, do not be a bookworm!
Love is Presence entire, Knowledge nothing but a Veil.
The universe is moved by the warmth of Love;
Knowledge deals with the Attributes, Love is a vision of the Essence;
Love is peace and permanence, Love is Life and Death:
Knowledge is the rising question, Love is the hidden answer.
Kingdom, faith and faqr are all miracles of Love;
The crowned kings and lords are base slaves of Love;
Love is the Space and the Creation, Love is Time and Earth!
Love is conviction entire, and conviction is the key!
The luxury of destination is forbidden in the religion of Love;
Fighting the storms is permitted, but the comfort of the shore is forbidden;
Lightning is permitted to Love, Harvest is forbidden.
Knowledge is the child of the Book, Love is the mother of the Book.

~ Allama Muhammad Iqbal

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

The Power of Silence

A story is told about a woman who went to a healer and said to him, 'My husband is very bad tempered. Every evening when he comes home he scolds me and there is quarrel that ends in a very disgraceful manner. Can you give me a remedy for it?' The healer said, 'Certainly,' and gave her seven pieces of candy, explaining, 'These are charmed pieces of candy. When your husband comes home, put one of these in your mouth.' When I did so, and that evening there was no quarrel: such a miracle, after ten years of continuing quarreling! The next day the woman went to the healer, thanked him a thousand times and told him that he had done such a miracle. She said, 'I do not know what to do to thank you. I want you to give me a big box of that candy which might last for some time.' the healer answered, 'The candy is not necessary, silence is needed.' This teaches us that often we quarrel only because of our speech. Silence is a great peacemaker. 'Blessed are the peacemakers.'

The Art of Being - Inayat Khan

"For the ignorant there is no better rule than silence and if he knew its advantage he would not be ignorant."

Saadi

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Jangan remehkan amalan yg ikhlas!

أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ

سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ قَرَصَتْ نَمْلَةٌ نَبِيًّا مِنْ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ فَأَمَرَ بِقَرْيَةِ النَّمْلِ فَأُحْرِقَتْ فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ أَنْ قَرَصَتْكَ نَمْلَةٌ أَحْرَقْتَ أُمَّةً مِنْ الْأُمَمِ تُسَبِّحُ

Dari Abu Hurairah r.a. katanya: Saya mendengar Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: “Seekor semut menyengat salah seorang Nabi. Nabi itupun menyuruh mencari sarang semut itu lalu dibakar. Allah lalu menurunkan wahyu kepada Nabi itu: “Sesungguhnya hanya seekor semut yang menyengat engkau dan engkau bakar salah satu umat yang bertasbih kepada Tuhan!” Riwayat Bukhari

Walaupun yang dianiaya itu hanyalah seekor semut yang kecil pada pandangan manusia tetapi ia tetap salah satu ciptaan tuhan yang Maha Agung, bukan sahaja semut akan tetapi semua makhluk tuhan lain juga begitu. Mereka yang mengerti akan hakikat penciptaan dengan sebenar-benarnya (sifat ini biasanya dimiliki oleh para kekasih Allah iaitu orang-orang yang arif), mereka akan lebih mengasihi dan menghargai semua ciptaan Allah berbanding dengan orang lain.

Disebutkan bahawa Allah mewahyukan kepada Nabi Musa as.: Tahukah Kamu mengapakah Aku mengangkat engkau sebagai Nabi yang terus mendengar kalamKu? Jawab Musa: Engkau yang lebih mengetahui. Bersabda Tuhan: Ketika Aku larikan semua kambing Nabi Syuaib yang kau pelihara itu, sehingga dengan susah payah engkau mengejar kambing-kambing itu untuk mengembalikannya, tetapi kemudian setelah kembali semuanya engkau tidak merasa jengkel marah, maka itulah sebabnya.

Dalam Hadith lain diceritakan, seorang pelacur yang memberi minum kepada anjing, tiba-tiba Allah bersyukur kepadanya dan mengampunkan semua dosanya. Demikianlah kehormatan dari kurnia-kurnia besar dari Allah itu, tidak dapat dicapai oleh manusia, dan selalu diberikan oleh Allah secara tiba-tiba, supaya tidak ada orang berbangga dengan amal perbuatannya.

Kasihani lah dirimu dan semua makhluk tuhan disekeliling mu, semuga Allah mengasihimu dan membuka bagimu jalan bagi mengetahui pelbagai rahsia penciptaan dan kehidupan. Tidak dibukakan oleh Allah melainkan kepada mereka yang sangat beruntung di dunia dan akhirat.

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

اَلْطَرِيْقُ اِلَى الله - The way to God

اَلْطَرِيْقُ اِلَى الله هُو كَثِيرُ - وَلَكِنْ أَقْصَرُ وَأَسْهَلُ هُوَ خِدَمَةُ الْآخِرِيْنَ ، وَلَا يَزْعُجُ الْآخِرِيْنَ ، وَجَعَلَ الآخِرِيْنَ سَعِدًاء

One day a man asked a sheikh how to reach God. “the Way to God” the sheikh replied, “are many as they are created beings.  But the shortest and easiest is to serve others, not to bother others, and to make others happy.

If you wish to draw near to God, you must seek God in the hearts of others. You should speak well of all, whether present or absent. If you seek to be a light to guide others, then, like the sun, you must show the same face to all. To bring joy to a single heart is better than to build many shrines for worship, and to enslave one soul by kindness is worth more than the setting free of a thousand slaves. The true man of God sits in the midst of his fellowmen, and rises up and cats and sleeps and buys and sells and gives and takes in the bazaars, and marries and has social intercourse with others, and yet is never for one moment forgetful of God.

The above is from the saying of Abu Sa'id, a great sufi and poets, Shaikh Abu-Said was one of the earlier Sufi poets. He lived more than two centuries before Jelaluddin Rumi yet, like Rumi, much of his mysticism follows a similar path of annihilation in divine Love.

From my own small experience and knowledge there is a great truth in what has been said. Many others have said about the same things, for example Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty said "A sin committed does not harm an individual so much as looking down upon one's own fellow human beings".

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

James Allen Quotes - As A Man Thinketh

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

The way to the Beloved

/ Photo by A-Daly /

Abu Said Khair once said:

"The shortest way to the Beloved is through selfless service and generosity to all of the Beloved's creatures."

"If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved, love everyone. whether in their presence or absence, see only their good. if you want to be as clear and refreshing as the breath of the morning breeze, like the sun have nothing but warmth and light for everyone."

In a similar notes Sa'di Shirazi had said

"Higher spiritual life is nothing but service of humanity, It is not the rosary, or prayer carpet, or woolen robes."

Shaikh Abu Said Khair (967 - 1049) was one of the earlier Sufi poets who lived more than two centuries before Jelaluddin Rumi. He lived in Mayhana in what is modern day Turkmenistan, just north of Iran and Afghanistan in Central Asia.


If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Siapa wali Allah?

Siapakah yang digelar wali Allah?

1. Ibnu Abas seperti yang tercatit dalam tafsir Al Khazin menyatakan “ Wali-wali Allah itu adalah orang yang mengingat Allah dalam melihat”.

2. Al Imam Tabari meriyawatkan daripada Saeed bin Zubair berkata bahawa Rasulullah s.a.w. telah ditanya orang tentang Wali-wali Allah. Baginda mengatakan “Mereka itu adalah orang yang apabila melihat, mereka melihat Allah”.

3. Abu Bakar Al Asam mengatakan “Wali-wali allah itu adalah orang yang diberi hidayat oleh Allah dan mereka pula menjalankan kewajiban penghambaan terhadap Allah serta menjalankan dakwah menyeru manusia kepada Allah”.

Petikan di atas diambil daripada buku kompilasi "Mengenali Wali-Wali Allah Dan Karamah Mereka", dari ceramah-ceramah Bulanan Tasauf - Masjid Khadijah. Muka surat 4 & 5

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Loving ourself as we are

Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can't love and respect yourself - no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are - completely; the good and the bad - and make changes as YOU see fit - not because you think someone else wants you to be different.

Stacey Charter

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Menjadi seorang yang suci

“Kau tidak akan menjadi seseorang yang suci hingga kau laksana bumi, baik terhadap golongan yang soleh mahupun golongan pendosa diperlakukan secara sama,

dan hingga kau laksana awan, yang menaungi segala sesuatu,

dan hingga kau bagaikan hujan, yang mengairi segala sesuatu, walaupun mereka mencintainya atau tidak.”

- Sheikh Abu Yazid al-Bisthami

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

What is in your purse?

The story below is related by the great Sufi teacher Attar:

As the Prophet Isa and his disciples entered a village, some of the villagers began to harass the Prophet, shouting unkind words and harsh accusations.

But the Prophet answered them by bowing down and saying prayers for their happiness and well-being.

A disciple said to him: 'You prayed for these men, aren't you filled with anger toward them ?'

Prophet Isa answered: 'I could only spend from what I had in my purse.'

When the situation is pleasant and comfortable, it is easy to be nice. But when we're faced with an unpleasant situation, then we begin to react from the very foundation of our being and automatically draw from of the depths of our purse. If, in such difficult situations, we respond in an unwholesome manner with anger, fear, hatred or violence, then that shows all too clearly what our purse really contains.

So, my dear friends, what's in your purse?

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Perhatikan lah aib sendiri

"Ada lah satu kecelaan apabila kita lupa kepada keaiban yang ada pada diri kita sendiri lalu memandang keaiban orang lain. Kita sering menyebut-nyebut keaiban saudara kita yang lain yang patut kekal tersembunyi. Andai kata kita orang yang berakal nescaya kita tidak akan mengaibkan orang lain. Pada diri kita sendiri penuh dengan keaiban, andainya diperhatikan cukuplah bagi kita."

- Ahli Sufi

Pandangan di atas adalah selari dengan pendapat Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty (R.A.) yang berkata "A person who has firm faith and believes in Allah doesn’t complain of others behaviour"  yang membawa maksud seseorang yang benar (kuat) aqidah dan keimanannya kepada Allah tidak akan bersungut (berkata dengan tujuan mengeji atau mengumpat) atas kelakuan serta perbuatan orang lain samada kepada dirinya sendiri atau kepada orang lain. Ia lebih suka memilih diam dari berkata-kata sesuatu yang menyentuh peribadi atau kelakuan orang lain. Sekiranya ia memberi nasihat, nasihatnya adalah yang bersifat umum sahaja tanpa mengaitkan dengan mana-mana peribadi.

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Submit before the will of Allah

If you are destined for good fortune you will be blessed; if afflictions have been ordained, no matter where you hide they will seek you out. Submit therefore before the will of God; be grateful in well-being and endure adversity with fortitude that His light may radiate within your being.

- Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani , Futhul Ghaib

Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not -
Surat Al-Baqarah 216

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

No attachement - true love

When we do our duty to others, to the human race, we must do it without attachment, without selfishness, in the proper way, expecting no reward.

Act that pours forth like this is an act of true love.

(M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen)

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

A broken Love

If we pursue God, worship Him, ask Him for favors, for property, money, possessions, a baby, great titles, a kingdom, or even for heaven, if we love God with interested motives, with selfish love, that love will break down. It is a broken love...
(M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen)

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

Hakikat Orang Arif Billah

Di dalam sebuah buku kecil "KasyafulAsrar – Pembukaan Segala Rahsia" ada menyebutkan ta’arif orang yang dinamakan orang Arif (Arif bermaksud mengetahui).

Mengikut penulis buku tersebut As-Syeikh Mohd Salleh bin Abdullah mengkabau (Q.S) orang Arif ialah:

a. Orang yang mengenal dirinya.
b. Orang yang mengenal Tuhannya.
c. Orang yang mengenal segala sifat Tuhannya.
d. Orang yang mengenal afaal ( Perbuatan) Tuhannya.
e. Orang yang mengenal Asma' (Nama-nama) Tuhannya.
f. Orang yang mengenal zahir dan batin.
g. Orang yang mengenal baik dan jahat.
h. Sama sahaja suka dan duka.
i. Tidak berasa gembira apabila dipuji.
j. Tidak berasa sedih apabila dikeji.

Persoalan yang selalu timbul kepada saya ialah mengapakah mereka dapat mencapai darjat akhlak begitu rupa. “Sama sahaja bagi mereka suka dan duka, tidak gembira apabila dipuji dan tidak merasa sedih bila dikeji”.

Tentulah ada sesuatu “rahsia yang sangat besar dan istimewa” dalam ilmu yang mereka miliki hasil dari pengetahuan mendalam tentang diri mereka sendiri dan sifat, Afaal dan Asma' Tuhannya.

Mereka orang Arif sebenarnya telah mencapai darjat "Insan kamil" disisi Tuhan yang telah redha sepenuhnya kepada semua hal dan keadaan mereka di dunia ini. Mereka hidup tanpa rungutan dan keluh kesah. Bagi mereka setiap kejadian sama ada baik atau jahat adalah sebenarnya baik belaka.

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark

The only love that is beneficial is selfless love.

The only love that is beneficial is selfless love.
Whatever we raise or touch – cattle, goats, donkeys, horses, dogs, cats, rats, house, property, possessions, learning, titles, fame, political status, or even wisdom – whatever it is we love, if our love is directed toward something and remains fixed on that thing, it is a love which can be lost, which can die...

(M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen)

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears - Glenn Clark