The Pearl of Wisdom - Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

How the Awe – Inspiring God subdues pride

Guru: 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 over all lives, whether trees, earth or any other object and subdues their pride. God has delivered this sermon to the Holy Prophet Mohamed (Sal).

Listen, son to this sermon about the arrogance of some objects and how they were subdued.

Once a man was sleeping at the foot of a tree. A snake glided down the tree and stung him 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. Some days later, a man who had witnessed this scene questioned him,

“Do you know why you woke up the other day when you were sleeping under the 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 maybe, fear can kill him. This is the fear of death. Like this, son, God who is Omniscient keeps vigilance over us. I shall tell you more. Listen.

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, but the snake was so long that only half of its body could coil around the entire Arsh. This made the Arsh feel ashamed and its pride was subdued.

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 realised 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 realise 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 realised its folly and thereby its pride was subdued.

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 can break up rocks of whatever strength. When iron became proud, God controlled it through fire and when fire became proud, He controlled it through water. When water became proud, He controlled it through the clouds, which scatter the water to the left and the right. When the clouds became proud, He controlled them through the wind, which drags the clouds to the east and the west. When the wind became proud, He controlled it through the trees, the mountains and the houses.

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 Judgement. It is Devandran (Jibril alaihis salam) the head of the angels who puts an end to this.

In this state of things, there are many secrets called hikmath (hidden things) inside man and in the things mentioned above, as well as those to be mentioned. These secrets can be known to man when he clarifies, improves and realises himself and praises the Lord, forgetting the desire for land and destroying the desire for women.

My son, in this way, man has taken the body of hell, which is dust out of dust. 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 there is none other than himself. He is even boastful with this destructive body of his. What will then become of man if with such a destructive body, he becomes proud and does not realise himself?

God has severely punished the Devas (spiritual beings) created by fire; the heavenly beings created by light and the angels created out of light of 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, whisky, beer, ganja and opium, kills lives and consumes their carcasses like the ignorant, inhuman Asuras of the cemetery.

My (thambi) younger brother, you must realise this and love all lives as your own. You must show compassion, pity, charity, kindness and amiability towards all lives. If you shine with 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. Realise this, my son. Clarify and redeem yourself, gem of my eyes.

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.