It Takes a Jewel to Know a Jewel – The Prince Part 7

God and the Hidden Jewel

God said, I was a hidden jewel and I wanted to be known.

But man could do nothing better than

To look for the hidden jewel inside of himself

And help others pry out the hidden jewel

Within themselves.

For don’t you know?

It takes a jewel to know a jewel…

…………………………………………..

The Sun. There is an old Sufi saying, ‘Only by the Sun can you see the Sun.’ And when you think about it, gee willikers! Them mad Sufis are right! If the Sun suddenly went whoop and shuts down, darkness would envelope the entire Solar System, and not only will we not be able to see the Sun, we will not even be able to see our hands in front of us, …and then all life will simply perish and earth would return to a barren dead planet. Goodbye you, goodbye me. Goodbye Barney the Dinasour. Goodbye Edward, Goodbye Jacob.

Mr. Abu Yazid. There is an oft-quoted tale of old Abu Yazid, the famous sufi saint. If you recall the tale (already posted in the almanac) Abu Yazid ‘dreamt’ he was knocking on God’s door, asking to be let in. God asked, “Who is that banging on My door?” to which AY answered, “It is I, your humble servant, Abu Yazid.” God replied back, “Go away.” The next night the same dream sequence occurred and again God asked, “Who is that banging on My door?” But this time, AY knew and answered correctly, “It is you, God.” And the door opened and "Abu Yazid' entered into the Divine Presence. As the prose correctly postulates, only a jewel will recognize another jewel. And when there is only ONE jewel (aka God) in the Absolute sense to speak of, all other outer forms and labels simply perish. Like a moth to a flame, like little droplets of rain falling into the Sea, all of us are drawn to Him and once in the Divine Presence, Hu are we really? 

To the last hours he persisted in his quest for the Hidden Jewel,
never swerving, with patience and delicate adab (good manners).
al-fatiha

A thought for my mourning friends. I am writing this for general consumption (as I always try in this Sinners Almanac – our motto: We do not discriminate between sinners of different faiths. ALL are welcome!), but I think you can guess that I am writing particularly for my friends, those followers, lovers and groupies of the late Shaykh Raja Ashman Ibni Sultan Azlan Shah. Because word has fallen into my shell-like ears of their sadness. Don’t be sad, I would like to tell them, if I could... because I am sure he looked at all of you as his treasure. In not so many words, he has said it and showed his love for you, time and time again. I think your Shaykh has already given you the key to the hidden door of God that common man call the Human Heart.

A thought for everyone. God bless you, sunshine! Ku Ash has passed away, but our All-loving God has left little codes and clues in all of humanity. So I look forward to figuring all of you out. Each and every one of you. Oh, don’t think I am being altruistic. I have a selfish and secret agenda - I am looking for my own hidden jewel, you see. And strange as it may seem, I suspect you are hiding mine within your hearts…

Have a lovely day. Treasure it, for it shan't come around again....

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way