Volume
Social Gathekas
| Heading
26. The Path of Discipleship
|
Sub-Heading
2. Lesson of Sacrifice
|
Social Gathekas
26. The Path of Discipleship
2. Lesson of Sacrifice
After yakin comes a test: sacrifice the ideal in the path of God. The most precious possession is not too valuable, in fact nothing is too great to sacrifice. No one among the disciples of the Prophet, the real disciples, thought life too great a sacrifice if needed.
The story of Ali is very well known. One night enemies wanted to kill the Prophet; Ali knew about the plot. He did not tell the Prophet, but tried to get him to leave home. Ali himself stayed, for he knew that if he went also the assassins would find out where the Prophet was. He slept in the bed of the Prophet, so that the assassins might find him, but he was not ready to lose his life if he could fight them. The consequence was that the plot failed and the enemies could touch neither the Prophet nor Ali.
There are a thousand such examples. The friendship between the teacher and the disciple is formed in God and truth for always; nothing in the world can break it. If the spiritual link cannot hold, how can a material link hold? It will wear out, as it is a worldly link. If the spiritual thought cannot form a link between two souls, what else could be such a strong tie that it would last here and in the hereafter.
|