Essentials of Sufism

[TumRe]

peace to you all, here is some words of wisdom that you may find beneficial.


A rider discovered a snake caught in the mist of a forest fire. When the snake saw him, it appealed for help, and because the rider was a God-fearing man, he overcame his fears and, holding out his saddlebag on the end of a spear, lifted the snake out of the fire. "Now go where you will," and in gratitude for your release, trouble mankind no more." But the snake turned on him saying, "I shall not leave until I have killed you and yor camel. You knew that I was a symbol of evil to men, and yet yo ignoredd the proverb, "Kindness to evil is like injury to goodmen." so you just take the consequences. Moreover, I am only copying the practice of men themselves." The rider protested and said,"if you can prove to me that this is the practice of men, I will accept my fate." Just then a buffalo appeared, and the snake asked him, "What is the reward of good?" "for years I raised calves for my master and gave him milk and butter, but now that I am old he plans to sell me to the butcher." The snake turned triumphantly to the rider, bu the latter said, "According to lawone witness is not enough." So the snake turned to a tree and asked , "What is the reward of good?" The tree replied, "According to the practice of men it is evil. I give shade and rest to weary travelers, and then they tear off my branches to make shafts for axes and spades." The snake turned once more in triumph to the rider, but the latter said, "Life is dear to me. I beg you, find yet one more witness to support you, and then i will submit without question to my fate." The snake then noticed a Fox who had been listening to the conversation, but before question could be put to him, the fox cried out,"of coure the reward of good is evil." Now tell me what good has the man done to the snale that he should be rewarded with evil?" the man told his story, and the fox asked the snake if he agreed. "yes," was the reply, "and here is the bag in which he lifted me." "how ridiculous," said the fox, "you could not possibly fit into such a tiny bag." I'll show you," replied the snake, and slid back into the bag. the fox cried out, "when you find your enemy in bonds, don't release him," and the rider, hastily closing the opening, beat the bag on the ground until the snake was dead.
-Elwell sutton



hotep

[TumRe]

One day a friend asked Hodja for a loan, saying that he would repay him the following week. Hodja didn't believe him but gave him the money anyway. Much to his suprise, the man kept his word and repaid him. A few months later the same man wanted another loan from Hodja, and he said to him "You know my credit is good. Last time, I repaid you promptly." Hodja replied, "You decieved me last time by repaying me when I thought that you wouldn't. I am not going to let you fool me again."

[ELHARU]

Rahubaat Tuman Re

Good one!

[TumRe]

Abdul Qadir al-Jilani one morning was still asleep at the time for the morning prayer. A cat came over to his side and nudged him until he awoke. Noticing the lateness of the time, Abdul Qadir quickly made his prayers. When he had finished, he looked at the cat. With his spiritual insight, he saw that the cat was actually a devil. This puzzled the great saint. So he asked, "I can see you are a devil, but why on earth did you wake me for the prayer.?" The cat answered, "because you've discovered me, I might as well tell you. I knew that if you missed your obligatory prayer, you would offer one hundred prayers as compensation, so I woke you up so that you would get the benefits of the one.

[TumRe]

It is said that when you take only one step towards him, he advances ten steps toward you. But the complete truth is that God is always with you.