Gurindam, Mulla Nasruddin and the Tailor

Gurindam Again - Today the sinner attended a meeting concerning an oil palm enterprise in the morning, together with his partner and friend, Ariffin. We were happy that Gurindam was also in the meeting. Gurindam (a pseudonym) is an elder and wise planter that we had made acquaintance with last year, some stories of which has already been recorded in this almanac.

An intermission - During today's meeting, Gurindam suddenly slipped me a note paper, on which he had scribbled, "The most scary matter is to be a witness to your ownself in front of Allah azzawajalla on what you have done / not done during your world life." Now what is this about?

Mulla Nasruddin - This caught me by surprise. But I held my peace for the duration of the meeting. Instead, I myself scribbled a reply in the form of a story about Mulla Nasruddin, a great sufi persona of immense stature, whose life story and tale is replete with wisdom mingled in mortal irony and humour. My brother, Saiful shared the tale with me last night. He told me the story this way -

Sufi guy goes a tailor to make a shirt. Tailor says, " God willling, it'll be ready next week ". Sufi guy comes back after a week, Tailor says," Shirt not ready, God willing, next week ". Sufi guy comes back again a week later. Tailor guy says, "Not ready, God willing, it'll be ready next week". Sufi guy then says.."Look, if we leave God out of it, how soon can my shirt be ready?"

Many Interpretations - I slipped the note back to Gurindam who read my reply. He chuckled, then he passed back the note with a reply, "It is just a test of patience". I found this interesting because my brother looked at the story from another angle which is "Stop using God as an excuse." But I guess an event recollected in a folk tale or sufi lore often offers many equally valid interpretations, depending really on whose point of view you are taking.

Mr. Mischief - Anyway, the meeting soon ended and I queried Gurindam as to the purpose of the advise, And this was what he answere, "If we really believe that God is with us all the time, we would not do any mischief." I listened and replied, "Ah. Very true. But I am not there yet..." After all, what else can I say?... for it is true... I still make mischief. But now I am wondering why he shared that with me. Did he read 'Mr. Mischief' written on my forehead? I should see him again, I think, and find out more. Insecure? Guilty as charged!

I have always found Gurindam fascinating. So much so that I have written at least 4 earlier postings arising from our conversations. We first met during a visit to an oil palm estate in Sarawak, situated in the island of Borneo/Kalimantan (Click on title to go to the postings): -

• Seven Reasons why Dogs are like Saints - Near Sibu 2011 Part 2
• Fat Trees and Tall Thin Trees - Gurindam's Tale
• A Piggy Tail - The Spiritual Station of Pigs
• Gurindam , the Weed, the Rice and the Lemongrass - The Nature of Love and Her Sweet Responsibilities

Each time I have ventured out of my private and almost hermit-like life, fate has presented me with beautiful people who are generous enough to share with me the most wonderful of stories and wisdom. I think it is time for the sinner to travel again. But where?

Have a lovely Monday, sunshine. God bless you.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Gurindam , the Weed, the Rice and the Lemongrass - The Nature of Love and Her Sweet Responsibilities

Love's Gentle Feint
It was overcast I said in the morning. And it was.
Later the wind blew the clouds away, and I thought… oh no, a sunny (hot) day!
But in the afternoon the rain came, with lightning and thunder.
So I bared my shoulder
As the Prophet once did,
And I danced in the rain,
The dervish in rapture
To Love’s intimacy
And gentle feint.

GURINDAM, THE WEED, THE RICE AND THE LEMONGRASS. My last story (which I can recall) of Gurindam and his traditional Malay lore concerns the weed, the rice and the lemongrass.

“When these three plants are just a few days old, it is hard to distinguish them apart. They look exactly alike!” said Gurindam. "So you need to get close to the ground and feel them. The leaf of the weed is coarse to the touch, so you can rule the weed out. But then you find that both the rice and lemongrass is soft. Now you need to get even closer and smell them. You will find that the rice sapling has no scent, but the lemongrass has that familiar tangy lemongrass aroma.” Then he smiled at me. “So you see, when you are in a position of responsibility (he was an ancient Planter, the boss of bosses of the palm oil estates, bearing the title of Chief Operating Officer), you cannot rely on hearsay and judge from a distant. You must go to the ground, examine the matter firsthand. If need be, you need to get on your hands and knees and taste the salinity of the trench canals which cuts across the estate like a city block grid.”

DUE DILIGENCE. He is right of course. In everything which we do, whether it is to bestow privilege or largesse or to withdraw entitlements, we need to get dirty on our hands and knees, and to run our hands through the soil of the human soul. We cannot know for certain of course, but we need to apply some basic diligence because let’s be frank here - People are often reticent and shy even if they are not overtly deceptive. They are just reluctant about revealing the relevant truths, and will hide the real source of their problem(s).

IT IS ALL ABOUT LOVE. Hehehe. It cuts against the grain does it not? Talking about management in this little almanac. After all, talking about responsibilities, rights and obligations appear to be anathema to our mystical credentials of ‘just letting go’ and ‘going with God’s flow’. But it isn’t really, in fact sometimes it is the essence of Love. After all… as the sinner once ruefully noted…

Jika (If)
Jika kamu tidak ingin
Berjabat tangan
Dengan kesabaran,
Usahlah kamu katakan
Yang kamu mencintaiku,

Jika kamu tidak ingin
Berkenalan dengan
Tanggungjawab,
Mengapakah
Kamu katakan,
Yang diri ini,
Kamu kasihi?

Translation:
If you do not desire
To befriend patience,
Do not say unto me
That you love me.

If you do not wish
To make acquaintance
With responsibilities,
Then why, pray tell,
Do you say that,
It is I,
Whom you truly love?

So you see? It is all about love after all. Just like a good Sufi would say. If you find one tell me. After all, sinners are what Sufis are made for.

Have a nice Sunday, pet.

Pax Taufiqa.

A Piggy Tail - The Spiritual Station of Pigs

In the course of conversation with Gurindam (see earlier posting about Gurindam's saintly dogs - Click Here), Ariffin asked, "So what is the true maqam (spiritual station) of the Pig?" And this was Gurindam's considered opinion. He had a few of them, including the origin of the Pig, but we will carry on from when the Pig played such a pivotal role in Noah's Ark.

"The Pig..." Began Gurindam, "...is an honoured creature. When the Ark, filled with all of the animal kingdom was for sometime afloat, an odorous and hygienic problem arose. Where to get rid of all the animal and human (there were some of them, if you recall) droppings?" My unspoken reply to Gurindam was to just dump the crap out into the waters. Gurindam responded to my silent query, "For you see, you cannot just dump it into the sea, not when God's own storm was raging outside. All hatches were shut tight. So the Pig came into the picture, and he and his spouse happily consumed (literally) the problem." One issue resolved for the long-suffering Noah.

In recognition for the invaluable service by the Pig to Noah, the Lord thereafter made Pig's flesh sacrosanct and forbidden for almost half of humanity. Yes, yes, I know... there are also hygiene and health issues which is said to be the reasons for the Jewish and Muslim prohibition of the consumption of Pigs, but that is just the technical aspect. How many times have you gazed in awe at some one's seemingly endless patience and fortitude in taking crap from people, and wished that you could reward him/her. So it is with the Lord and the Pig.

It is to my daily amusement that believers are so disgusted, even physically nauseated by the mere sight, sound, smell or even saying the word 'Pig'. I could imagine a holy consumer dropping a shoe he was browsing when he suddenly noticed the words "Pig Skin" inside the shoe, Ayieee! - worried that the ham leather would somehow stain his otherwise flawless piety and purity. Purity? Hehehehe. At least the Pig is merely doing what nature has intended it to perform. It is doing nothing more nor less. Man, with his endless cheating, lying, stealing, envying, murdering, corrupting and hypocrisy can learn a lot from the natural resilience of the Pig to take all the crap that this world yields every day.

I don't have any new illustration, but I hope you can tolerate my re-posting of the sketch below. Hehehe.

Have a nice piggy day, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

Footnote - If you have absolutely nothing else to do, I have written an earlier posting about pigs entitled 'Don't eat Bacon, but love the Pig'. Click here.

Fat Trees and Tall Thin Trees - Gurindam's Tale

I am fat. I think I have been clear on this in my earlier posting. It is a downer... but once in a while I come across some tenuous rationale which makes me happy at being err... stocky. Gurindam shared with me a story about fat trees and thin trees (he does that a lot, being a planter).

"My dear boy..." Began Gurindam. "A tree is a good analogy for a man. Like a tree, we must grow, and like a tree, we can be a source of protection and nourishment for other people. If our tree is shady with lots of sweet fruits, many people will come flocking to our presence. They will pluck our fruits and eat them, muttering 'Oh, yummy!' However, if our tree bears bitter fruits and has little leaves, no one will be bothered with us and we will be that cranky lonely old tree at the corner of the street, avoided and unloved. So Taufiq, you must be a shady foliage so you can provide shelter and people will sit under you and remark happily, 'What a lovely old tree!'"

"And you must remember...." Gurindam continued, "A tree needs a lot of fertilizer to grow well. So you must be able to accept a lot of crap from people and still be happy."

"That is not easy," I said.

"If something is worthwhile to attain, normally it isn't easy. That is the way of the world." Replied Gurindam. "But to continue, you should also make sure that you don't grow tall and barren. You may attract attention, but you give little shade, you offer no fruits, and you become a lightning rod in a storm. So instead of being a beneficial thing, you become a source of danger. And if you become a source of danger, you have drifted far from the ideals of the Prophet."

"Prophet?"

Gurindam smiled and patted my shoulder, "Have you forgotten? Someone once asked the Prophet, 'Who is a Muslim?' And Muhammad Habibullah (Beloved of God) answered beautifully, 'He is someone from whom everyone is safe from harm, whether from his words or his deeds'"

Dear sunshine. How many amongst us can now fall into this category? God bless the Living Memory of the Prophet, and God bless you, whoever you may be, and by whatever name you call our One God.

Pax Taufiqa