|
Main Index
|
| |
| |
|
| |
USE YOUR SAVINGS TO BECOME A SKIN-MERCHANT."
MOJUD OBEYED.
IN MOSUL HE BECAME KNOWN AS A SKIN-MERCHANT, NEVER SEEING KHIDR WHILE HE PLIED HIS TRADE FOR THREE YEARS. HE HAD SAVED QUITE A LARGE SUM OF MONEY, AND WAS THINKING OF BUYING A HOUSE, WHEN KHIDR APPEARED AND SAID, "GIVE ME YOUR MONEY, WALK OUT OF THIS TOWN AS FAR AS THE DISTANT SAMARKAND, AND WORK FOR A GROCER THERE."
MOJUD DID SO.
PRESENTLY HE BEGAN TO SHOW UNDOUBTED SIGNS OF ILLUMINATION. HE HEALED THE SICK, SERVED HIS FELLOW MAN IN THE SHOP DURING HIS SPARE TIME, AND HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE MYSTERIES BECAME DEEPER AND DEEPER.
CLERICS, PHILOSOPHERS AND OTHERS VISITED HIM AND ASKED, "UNDER WHOM DID YOU STUDY?"
"IT IS DIFFICULT TO SAY," SAID MOJUD.
HIS DISCIPLES ASKED, "HOW DID YOU START YOUR CAREER?"
HE SAID, "AS A SMALL OFFICIAL." "AND YOU GAVE IT UP TO DEVOTE YOURSELF TO SELF-MORTIFICATION?"
"NO, I JUST GAVE IT UP." THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND HIM.
PEOPLE APPROACHED HIM TO WRITE THE STORY OF HIS LIFE.
"WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN IN YOUR LIFE?" THEY ASKED.
"I JUMPED INTO A RIVER, BECAME A FISHERMAN, THEN WALKED OUT OF HIS REED-HUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. AFTER THAT, I BECAME A FARMHAND. WHILE I WAS BALING WOOL, I CHANGED AND WENT TO MOSUL, WHERE I BECAME A SKIN-MERCHANT. I SAVED SOME MONEY THERE, BUT GAVE IT AWAY. THEN I WALKED TO SAMARKAND WHERE I WORKED FOR A GROCER. AND THIS IS WHERE I AM NOW."
"BUT THIS INEXPLICABLE BEHAVIOR THROWS NO LIGHT UPON YOUR STRANGE GIFTS AND WONDERFUL EXAMPLES," SAID THE BIOGRAPHERS.
"THAT IS SO," SAID MOJUD.
SO THE BIOGRAPHERS CONSTRUCTED FOR MOJUD A WONDERFUL AND EXCITING STORY: BECAUSE ALL SAINTS MUST HAVE THEIR STORY, AND THE STORY MUST BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE APPETITE OF THE LISTENER, NOT WITH THE REALITIES OF LIFE.
AND NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO SPEAK OF KHIDR DIRECTLY. THAT IS WHY THIS STORY IS NOT TRUE. IT IS A REPRESENTATION OF A LIFE. THIS IS THE REAL LIFE OF ONE OF THE GREATEST SUFIS.
The story that we are going to go into today is one of the greatest stories. It has that special flavor that only a Sufi story can have. It is incomparable. If you can understand
|
|
|
|
| |