Spiritual Health Learning Community Center Exploring Life's Horizons   »   Streams Menu On the Day of Resurrection God will say: "O child of Adam, I was hungry, but you did not feed Me; I was thirsty, but you did not give Me drink; and I was ill, but you did not visit Me." - Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) Friend At best, we have only one friend, who comes to us in many guises. At worst, we have no friend, because we refuse to recognize what lies behind the guises through which Divinity is manifested to us. From the moment of our conception, our Friend is with us. Our Friend is the One Who, even before our birth, orchestrated the events which brought our mothers and fathers together and led to our conception, knowing this would be the result. In this way we were given, through the womb of our mothers, a roof over our head and food to eat and a place to sleep before setting one foot on the face of the Earth. Our Friend provided these accommodations for us from the treasury of Divine Names and Attributes. Our Friend gave us existence and, then, life. Our Friend clothed us with being, consciousness, will, light, hearing, seeing and speech. All of these were drawn from the Divine wardrobe. Our bodies and minds and hearts were constantly nourished and given loving attention by our Friend all through our years of development. Whatever benefits we received from our parents, families, communities, teachers, playmates and schoolmates were all from our Friend. These people were but the loci of manifestation through which Our Friend acted. To whatever extent we can think clearly and insightfully, this is a kindness from our Friend. Whatever talents and capacities we have is because our Friend wished for us to have them. Whenever we were lonely or sick or in pain, our Friend was there listening to us, sending consolations of different kinds, through various mediums, with which to comfort us. From time to time, our Friend sent us care packages of laughter and happiness and people with whom to share our difficulties. Our Friend would give us sleep so we could rest from the worries and problems of the world. Our Friend provided us with mountains, plains, forests, rivers, lakes and oceans to give rest to our senses and minds. All of this came from the palette of Divine Creation and gives expression to the richness, generosity and subtlety of the care our Friend took to provide for us. Jobs, clothes, dwellings, health, opportunities, spouses, children, and gifts all came to us from our Friend. We received these not because we deserved them but because our Friend befriended us, and this is how friends are. Our Friend loves to see smiles on our faces and cries when we shed tears. We cannot go through difficulty without our Friend being more concerned for our welfare than we are. The breeze which touches our face and feels refreshing is a caress from our Friend. The embrace of warmth from the Sun is by our Friend. The companionship of the moon at night is from the escort service of our Friend. The rustling of leaves, the warbling of birds, the sounds of water are all instruments in our Friends musical ensemble which performs for our listening enjoyment. Our Friend is in the rhythms and melodies we hear. Our Friend is in the hearing itself. The atoms of air which weigh down on us and provide us with the very breath of our life move to the command of our Friend. The blood which courses through us and both brings nourishment as well as carries away waste moves with a tempo set by our Friend in our physical hearts. The biological intricacies, harmonies and order which regulate our lives are all conducted by our Friend. The phenomenal precision and sophistication of our brains are conceived and implemented by our Friend. Our Friend is within us. If we reflect carefully, we can catch traces of the presence of our Friend amidst our thoughts. The fabric of our consciousness is woven from thread spun from the Divine loom. The conscience which encourages us and constrains us to be decent, honorable, kind, and just individuals gives expression to inspirations from our Friend. The inclination of our hearts toward compassion, mercy and spiritual knowledge is at the behest of our Friend. The One who has shaped and crafted our spirits with the potential for spiritual intimacy and love is our Friend. The One who has put longing in our hearts to return to our spiritual origins is our Friend. The mystical path with its Prophets and saints are courtesy of our Friend. The experiences we have on our spiritual journey are none other than signs of our Friend. The stations we go through are lessons taught to us by our Friend. The spiritual knowledge and understanding which are gained are the colors and lights which glow with our Friend's nearness. Our essential capacity and identity bear the signet of our Friend. The very mystery at our core is breathed into us by our Friend. The One who keeps calling to us to listen is our Friend. The One Who waits for us patiently is our Friend. The One Who forgives us for our foolishness and rebellion is our Friend. The One Who always loves us despite our many faults and shortcomings is our Friend. The One Who cherishes us and desires nothing but our well-being is our Friend. Our Friend is found both without us, as well as, within us. However, the greatest potential for realizing the closeness of our Friend is within. To come face to face with our Friend, requires effort, time and guidance. Guides have been provided by our Friend to help us learn how to struggle and how to make the best use of our time. Sufi masters are the closest we will come to dealing directly with our Friend until we fully realize that sacred and sublime Presence within ourselves. Sufi masters are the spiritual consolation and support which are provided by our Friend until the face-to-face meeting can take place. Our Friend is present in the Sufi masters in a very special way. These shaykhs of the path give off the light and love of our Friend. Through them, our Friend transforms us spiritually. These spiritual guides are the 'Philosopher's Stone' with which our Friend wishes us to associate and, thereby, benefit from the spiritual, alchemical properties which have been infused into them by our Friend. When we are in the company of the shaykh, we are in close association with our Friend. When the Sufi master provides guidance, it is guidance from our Friend. When our spiritual guide shows us love, kindness, generosity, and forbearance, this is being offered from our Friend through the spiritual master. The being of the shaykh is saturated in the perfume of Our Friend. Because the shaykh is sitting with our Friend, we sit with our Friend when we sit with the shaykh. The memory of the shaykh which we carry in our minds and hearts is a reflection of our Friend. The love we bear for the shaykh is our love for our Friend in the form of manifestation of our shaykh. The shaykh and our Friend are not two. The former is one of the modes of appearance of the latter. The shaykh is our Friend in human disguise. In fact, from the time our souls were placed in our bodies, our Friend has been visiting with us through all the circumstances of our lives. All of our experience is a reflection of our Friend in some disguise or another. Except for people such as the Sufi masters, most of us do not recognize the presence of our Friend in the events of our lives. Most of us have removed our Friend from our lives and, as a result, have impoverished ourselves spiritually. Consequently, we have become lonely, alienated, adrift, separated and Friendless. Nevertheless, our Friend still hopes we will clue in to what is actually going on in our lives. Our Friend keeps leaving messages for us to call back, but we persist in deleting the overtures. The Sufi masters are here to advise us against this and to tell us about the advantages of starting to pick up on the messages being left for us. In fact, the shaykhs are trying to tell us we don't have to be restricted to the limited and indirect properties of message systems. Instead, we should develop our capacity for direct dialing access to our Friend. | Return to Streams Menu | Copyright © 2004 Interrogative Imperative Institute. All Rights Reserved.