Cerita hari Jumaat: God and His lover

Moses once heard a shepherd praying as follows:

''O God, show me where your art that I may become your servant. I will clean your shoes and comb your hair, and sew your clothes and fetch Thee milk.''

When Moses heard him praying in this senseless manner he rebuked him saying:

''O foolish one, though your father was a Mosalman, you have become an infidel. God is a spirit and needs not such gross ministrations as in your ignorance, you suppose.''

The shepherd was ashamed at his rebuke and tore his clothes and fled away into the desert. Then a voice from heaven was heard saying

''O Moses wherefore have you driven away my servant?

Your duty is to reconcile my people with me, not to drive them away from me.

I have given to each race different usages and forms of praising and adoring me.

I have no need of their praises being exalted above all such needs.

I regard not the words that are spoken, but the heart that offer them.

I do not require fine words but a burning heart.

Men's way of showing devotion to me are various, but so long as the devotions are genuine they are accepted

So far as possible engage not in dissevering

The thing most repugnant to me is divorce

To each person have I allotted peculiar forms

To each have I given particular usages.

What is praiseworthy in you is blameable in him

What is poison for you is honey for him

What is good in him is bad in you

What is fair in him is repulsive in you

I am exempt from all purity and impurity

I need not the laziness or alacrity of my people

I created not men to gain a profit from them

But to shower my beneficence upon them

In the men of Hind the usages of Hind are praiseworthy

In the men of Sind those of Sind

I am not purified by their praises

I regard not the outside and the words

I regard the inside and the state of heart

I look at the heart if it be humble

Though the words may be the reverse of humble

Because the heart is substance and words accidents

Accidents are only a means, substance is the final cause

A burning heart is what I want; consort with burning

Kindle in your heart the flame of love!

Though your praises be better compared with his

Yet in regard to God they are full of defects

Your own prayers are accepted only through mercy''

(From Al-masnavi written by Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi page 122-124)

The Fisherman and the businessman

Mencari semula cerita ini dari blog seorang penulis terkenal: Paulo Coelho. Cerita yang ringkas tetapi padat dengan pengajaran dan membantu pembaca untuk mencari serta memenuhi erti kehidupan masing-masing.

Mengapa aku mencari semula cerita ini? Kerana ia sangat berkait rapat dengan kehidupan sekarang yang sedikit rumit dalam mencari erti kehidupan dalam tahun 2012 ini.

Semoga ia juga dapat membantu anda yang sedang membaca entri ini.

Kerana kita manusia, masalah yang dihadapi adalah sama. Cuma bentuknya berbeza =)

****

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman,

“How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”

The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”

“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.

The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish.

Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”

The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”

The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

Tuhan Dan Doa Manusia

Benarkah Tuhan mendengar doa manusia?

Setiap hari, setiap detik dan saat, manusia berdoa dan memohon sesuatu daripada Tuhan. Berbillion manusia berdoa pada masa yang sama.Samada meminta kesenangan, dijauhkan dari kesusahan atau memohon dirinya dimaafkan kerana melanggar perintah-perintahNya.

Sehingga pada satu masa dan ketika, hati kita mula diketuk dengan keraguan. Siang malam aku berdoa mengapa hal yang sama juga berlaku? Mengapa aku meminta ini tetapi Tuhan berikan yang lain? Mengapa aku minta sihat tetapi diberiNya kesakitan? Mengapa aku minta kemenangan diberinya kekalahan?

Dalam menghadapi persoalan ini, kita harus mengingati satu perkara: Tuhan menciptakan kita. Apabila Dia menciptakan, bererti Dia mampu untuk menjaga, melihat dan mendengar suara ciptaaNya dari hembusan pertama sehingga hembusan terakhir di bumi ini.

Jika Dia tidak mendengar doa, mengapa Dia memberi RuhNya kepada kita dan menyediakan kehidupan untuk kita?

Sudah tentu Tuhan mempunyai masa untuk mendengar doa kita kerana Dia menciptakan kita dan sehingga ke saat ini, kita masih hidup dan bernafas di atas muka bumi ini walaupun terdapat berbillion manusia yang lain berdoa pada masa yang sama. Dia mampu untuk mendengar setiap doa ciptaaNya. Jika Dia tidak mampu, sudah tentu diri ini tidak akan diciptakan.

Apabila kita berdoa diberi kesihatan tetapi Tuhan memberi kesakitan bukanlah kerana Dia tidak mendengar atau bersifat selektif dalam mendengar doa manusia. Dia memberikan kesakitan supaya kita menghargai kesihatan yang telah diberikan dan akan diberikan. Dia memberi kekalahan agar apabila kita diberi kemenangan, kita tidak sombong dan melupakan keperitan mengharungi detik-detik kekalahan tersebut.

Untuk menghargai sesuatu perkara, kita harus merasai kehilangannya dahulu. Barulah pada saat itu kita akan sedar betapa pentingnya sesuatu yang diingini.

Apabila Tuhan memberi sebaliknya, bererti Dia mahu kita terus berdoa dan berkomunikasi denganNya. Doa merupakan medium untuk menghubungkan manusia dan penciptaNya. Menjadi kebiasaan manusia apabila mendapat sesuatu yang diminta, akan mudah melupakan sang pemberi dan akan mengingatiNya semula apabila punya hajat yang lain. Justeru tidak diberikan apa yang diminta agar tidak terputus komunikasi kita bersama Tuhan.

Jika bukan doa, apa lagi yang boleh membawa manusia untuk berbicara bersama penciptaNya?

Tuhan sentiasa mempunyai masa untuk mendengar doa kita.

Soalnya,

Adakah kita sentiasa mempunyai masa untuk berdoa kepada Tuhan?

wallahua'lam.