Bawa
The On-line Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Library
(1st Library)
(Recommended way to Navigate around 1st Library)
And
The Shaikh Muhammad Rahim Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Library
(2nd Library)
The Pearl of Wisdom
"Wisdom Study Version"
by His Holiness, M. R. Bawa Muhaiyadddeen
(may God be pleased with Him, and with Us)
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Chapter 08
- Original Version -
"How The Awe-Inspiring God
Subdues Pride"
Go To "Wisdom Study Version"
Go To "Wisdom Outline"- For "Chapter 08"
His Holiness Teaches Us:
Guru:
The Secret - In The Fear of God
My brothers and sisters, I shall relate to you the secret, in the fear of God.
It is in the nature of things, that in His knowledge of man, God controls and rules over him, however much he may pride himself in his manliness. God rules all lives, whether trees, earth, or any other object, and subdues their pride.
The Sermon of God - To The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sal.)
God has delivered this sermon to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sal.)
Listen son, to this sermon about the arrogance of some objects and how they were subdued (by God, using His understanding of their nature).
Fear of Death - Can Kill Man
Once a man was sleeping at the foot of a tree. A snake glided down the tree and stung the man on the head. The man woke up at once with reddened eyes and scratched his head.
The snake had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. So the man neither saw anyone nor did he suspect anything. He went back to sleep again.
Some days later, a man who had witnessed this scene questioned him,
"Did you know why you woke up the other day when you were sleeping
under a tree?"
The man replied,
"No. I do not know."
"A snake came down the tree and stung your head,"
Said the man who had witnessed the incident.
As soon as he heard these words, the man became frightened and excited, and dropped down dead. However much brave or arrogant man may be, fear can kill him. This is the fear of death.
Guru:
Like this, son, God who is Omniscient, keeps vigilance over us. I shall tell you more. Listen.
How God - Subdued The Pride of The Arsh (The Throne of Allah)
When Allahuthallah created the Arsh (The Throne of Allah), the Arsh became arrogant.
So God taught it a lesson through a snake with seventy thousand wings.
On each of the snake's wings, there were seventy thousand feathers.
On each of the seventy thousand feathers, there were seventy thousand faces.
On each face, there were seventy thousand mouths.
On each mouth, there were seventy thousand tongues.
On each tongue, there were seventy thousand thoughts, like rain drops, like leaves, like stones, like the days of the world, and like the Devas (spiritual beings).
These seventy thousand thoughts emitted a tremendous amount of worship to God.
The snake coiled itself around the Arsh (The Throne of Allah), but the snake was so long that only half its body could coil around the entire Arsh. This made the Arsh feel ashamed, and its pride was subdued.
How God - Subdued The Pride of The Sun, The Moon, And Paradise
When the sun was created from the power of its own rays, it considered itself very great and became proud. Therefore, God made the cloud to conceal the brightness of the sun. The sun realized the folly of its pride and became subdued.
Then when the moon was created from its own rays, it considered itself great and became proud. Therefore, God made the moon to wane and thereby subdued its pride, and made it realize its folly.
When Paradise was created, it prided itself looking at its own beauty. So God put Adam alaihis salam (Sivam) into Paradise and made him forget God's commandments, and to disobey Him, by eating the forbidden fruit of Paradise.
Further, when the angels prostrated themselves before Adam (Sivam), Paradise realized its folly and thereby its pride was subdued.
How God - Subdued The Pride of The Five Elements
When God created the earth, it became proud. So He controlled and ruled it through the immobile mountains.
When the mountains showed their arrogance, He controlled them through iron, which could break up rocks of whatever strength.
When iron became proud, God controlled it through fire, and when the fire became proud, He controlled it through water.
When water became proud, God controlled it through the clouds, which scatter the water to the left and to the right.
When the clouds became proud, God controlled them through the wind which drags the clouds to the east and the west.
When the wind became proud, God controlled it through the trees, the mountains, and the houses.
How God - Subdues The Pride of Man, And The Angel of Death
When man becomes arrogant, God controls him through the five elements and through death.
When death becomes proud, God controls it by sending it between heaven and hell, and torturing it on the Day of Judgment. It is Devandran (Jibril alaihis salam, the head of the angels) who puts an end to this.
The Secret Hidden Things (Hikmath) - Inside of Man
In this state of things, there are many secrets called hikmath (hidden things) inside of man, and in the things mentioned above, as well as in those to be mentioned.
These secrets can be known to man when he clarifies, improves, and realizes himself, and praises the Lord, forgetting the desire for land, and destroying the desire for woman.
Guru:
My son, in this way, man has taken the body of hell, which is dust out of dust.
The Current State of Man - Is Residing Within The Body of Hell
Man resides within this stinking body, and grows like a smelling carcass. He lives in this body eating the dead foul-smelling carcass. He claims the egoism of "I", and becomes proud, thinking that there is none other than himself. He is even boastful with this destructive body of his.
What Will Become of Man?
What will then become of man if with such a destructive body, he becomes proud, and does not realize himself?
God has severely punished the Devas (the spiritual beings) created by fire (the jinns), the heavenly beings created by light, and the Angels created our of light by God's abundant grace, because of their arrogance.
If such heavenly beings and angels were so destroyed, will God leave man alone, who born as man, lives as man, discards the good human qualities, and acquires the qualities of the lower beings, and drinks toddy, liquor, arrack, brandy, whiskey, beer, gunja and opium, kills lives and consumes their carcasses like the ignorant inhuman
Asuras of the cemetery?
The Only Solution Is God - We Must Become The Friend of The Recluse
My younger brother, you must realize this, and love all lives as your own. You must show compassion, pity, charity, kindness, and amiability towards all lives.
If you shine in these qualities, your inner heart and your body will become resplendent like gold, and the whole world will be yours.
You will become the friend of the recluse who lives without any attachments. The Primal One will be yours. You will glitter everywhere with your resplendence. You will become the brother of all lives on earth.
Realize this, my son, clarify and redeem yourself, gem of my eyes.
If Not, We Will Grow Our Destruction Within Us - By Acting In Ignorance of God
Therefore, everything which appears on earth, and assumes pride, arrogance, and the egoism of "I", acquires the qualities of destruction.
Seeing this, the Primal Lord has created every other thing to control such arrogance.
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