July 24, 2010

The Story of The Blind Sheikh Who Could Read the Holy Qur’an

One time a man saw the Holy Quran in the house of an old blind Saint. He happened to stay as a guest in this blind Saint's house during the summer time. For a good while the two Saints lived pleasantly. After some time, however, he thought that the presence of this Holy Quran is very surprising because this man is strictly blind and he cannot read it. He tried to comfort himself by thinking that someone else may be living here and reading the Quran, but when he gained certainty that this man lives alone and no one else lives here, his uneasiness and confusion increased. Then he thought, ‘ I cannot be informal and ill mannered and just ask him the reason forthright, now what should I do?’ Then he decided to himself, ‘No, I will not do anything. In fact I should stay quiet and adopt patience so that, through the blessings of patience I can reach my aim’. In the end, he was patient. For a few days, he remained in distress, but after a few more days, the secret was revealed to him; because patience is the source to success. Through the blessings (barkaat) of patience, his success was indefinite. Before we go on with the details of his success, it seems appropriate to advise a bit on patience.

You should be patient because patience is a glorious blessing (AZEEM UL SHAAN Nemat). Through its blessings you will gain freedom from your distress and be cured from all your old diseases in which you are involved. Remember, that patience has a very big role in the revelation (inkishaaf) of thousands of secrets, given no larger matter is at hand. And although, according to your Nafs (inner-self), patience is disliked its result is extremely pleasant. Now we will lecture on an incident reflecting how patience is the key to secrets being revealed to you.

So, this guest adopted patience and immediately the condition of the blind Saint was unveiled to him. This is what happened

In the middle of the night he heard the recitation of the Holy Quran and due to this, he sat up. He saw the perplexing situation of the blind Saint reading the Quran. His reading was perfectly accurate. From seeing this, he became overwhelmed and asked the blind Saint, 'Hazrat, what is the secret behind this? When there is no light in your eyes, then how can you see? How can you read like this? I see that whatever you are doing recitation of, that is the exact place of your eyes attention and that is where your hand is pointing. The movement of your finger shows that undoubtedly you can see each word of each verse.' He replied, 'You are a Saint with elevated ranks and you are separate from the ignorant ones; why do you have surprise in the miracles of Allah? I requested from Allah that I have extreme passion to read the Quran and it is dear to me as my life is dear.

 I am not Haafiz that I could read from my memory, so give my eyes light during the times I want to read the Quran so I don't have difficulty in reading. And when I want to recite, then give me eyes so that I can take the Quran and read it word for word. So, the response came from Haq Subhaana ,'You are a valuable man and in every distress you relied only on me for the solution and this is your good faith and high hope due to which I give you even more closeness to me in every way. In other words, I promise you that I will give you eyes so that, Oh Precious Creation! You can read the Quran.' Then, He did just that. Whenever I opened the Quran to read it, that Wise Secret who is never careless from anything and that Respected Being that has no partners, grants me enlightened eyes.'----

Now that this story has reached an end, listen. The Wali that does not do any criticism on the acts of Allah, in fact he follows without chun o chura, one reason is this;

he knows that Allah gives equal in return for that thing which He takes. If He burns your garden, He will give you grapes; in the midst of distress, He grants you happiness and comfort. He gives hands to the handicapped; those in worry, He makes their hearts drunk with His Love. The Wali knows that when he’s getting greater in return from that which he even planned for, he leaves all chun o chura and criticism; because in this case criticism is useless.

 For example, if we get heat without fire, then why should we complain or be distressed if our fire goes out? And if He gives you sight without eyes, then what worry do you have that you are blind? This blindness in itself is a great enlightenment/sight! What reason is there for worry? And if you are getting light without a candle, in this case, if He blows out your candle, then what is the reason for your ‘haee’ and sighs of distress?

The summary is that Haq Ta'ala has made thousands of high level sources to reveal the essence of the heart. But mankind does not have any greater cure than patience. From this, you can estimate what great treasure patience is.

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