The Owner’s Corner (II)
But I guess to have the best beds at night does not actually matter in life. In other words, human experience has shown that the luxurious nature of the bed does not guarantee quality sleep. Thus while the wealthy is busy turning on his side, right and left, in search of sleep at night, the […]
But I guess to have the best beds at night does not actually matter in life. In other words, human experience has shown that the luxurious nature of the bed does not guarantee quality sleep. Thus while the wealthy is busy turning on his side, right and left, in search of sleep at night, the poor man in my village is already deep in sleep snoring away to Eldorado. While the wealthy is woken up suddenly from sleep by the awful dreams he is having, the poor guy who sleeps on a mat and under darkness would not wake up until sunrise the following day!
Brethren, let me ask again: where lies the pleasure of life? Perhaps the answer lies in having the means to procure the very best to eat and drink. Perhaps the answer lies in having the most beautiful woman as consort. This is true. Is it not? But the man I met in the university clinic the other day would probably have a different opinion. He came to the clinic to present the result of a test he carried out to his physician. Here was a man who had the means to buy everything he desired. He could afford to satiate his greed and fancies no matter the cost. But after having looked at the result of the text, the medic told him: “sir if you actually want to live longer, you would have to avoid all these “goody-goodies” of life. You would have to avoid red meat, egg, wine and all beverages”.
And as if the latter are not bad enough a ‘news’ for the rich, he is equally told he needed to cut down on the pleasures of the loin. He needed to avoid the opposite sex if he wanted to avoid heart attack!
Brethren, I ask again: where lies the pleasure of life? I checked our heritage for possible insight into this important question. I travelled back to the glorious era of the great Umayyad ruler, Harun al-Rashid. Al-Rashid was a ruler who, unlike dealers of today, valued the companion of intellectuals and men of wisdom. He once sat on his throne and suddenly felt the need to take water. He thereafter requested a cup of water. But just before he put the cup on his mouth, one of the scholars in the palace pleaded with him to wait a minute. He then asked the Caliph: “what would happen if you were told you would only be able to drink this water if you offer half of your kingdom as ransom”. Al-Rashid looked the scholar in the eyes and said: “Yea! I would not mind that at all. I would be willing to stake half of my kingdom in order to take this water”. Some moments thereafter, the scholar requested for the attention of al-Rashid again: “Dear Caliph, what would happen if you were told that that water would not be allowed to pass out of your body unless you ransom yourself with the other half of your kingdom?” The Caliph then paused some moments and then said: “Yea! I wouldn’t think twice to ransom myself with the other half of my kingdom if that would guarantee my health”. The scholar then said: “Dear Caliph, what pleasure then lies in a world which does not worth more than half a cup of water?”
The moral in this sermon today is this: most things people yearn for in this world are in fact worthless when compared with what we hope for in the next world and that this world is really like a piece of ice left out in the sun – it is destined to melt and vanish.
Brethren, one of the companions of al-Rasul once said: “If three most enjoyable things were not there, I could not bear to live in this world, even for a day: (1) the joy of spending a hot summer noon in thirst (while fasting); (2) the bliss of lying prostrate before the Almighty in the later part of the night; and (3) the pleasure of sitting in company with the pious beings, whose conversation is interspersed with wise saying, that are picked like fruits of one’s choice from a fruit-garden.”
Listening further to our forebears, the following caught my attention: “when a man dies, the angels say: ‘What has he sent forward?’ and the people say, “What has he left behind?”‘