All praise and glory is for the Lord of the worlds. All blessings and peace be upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
It is a confirmed truth that when the remembrance of God and the remembrance of His beloved ones is neglected, then the soul experiences a spiritual death. Some souls are close to death, but a sentence, a verse, a hadith, a piece of advice can revive their spirits. They find healing through them.
Hazrat Ayye of Burujirdi is an esteemed teacher, Jahangir Qashqai, a musician for forty years. He has no connection to spirituality, his soul is dead. He has no connection to religion, schools of thought, God, the remembrance of God, the Quran, fear of the grave, nothing, but he has a love for music. His musical instrument’s string broke, so he went to Isfahan to get it fixed. He went to a shoemaker and asked, “Brother, tell me, who fixes this string of my musical instrument?”
Once the shoemaker pointed upwards from head to toe, and then said: “Your string is also broken with God, are you thinking about repairing it?”
Jahangir Qashqai sat down on the ground. He started saying, “You are right. My string is also broken with God. I don’t remember God. Tell me, who fixes this string?”
He left his musical instrument there and said, “I don’t need to fix this, I need to fix my own string. Tell me, who fixes this string?”
With love and honesty, the shoemaker said, “He is a teacher in the madrasa. They are the ones who connect the strings to God in the madrasa.”
He went inside the madrasa, where esteemed scholars were present. Once they sat down and said: “Your eminence! I have no connection with God. My soul is dead.”
And then, by the grace of God, a string was connected, dear ones! So much so that he became a spiritual guide. Therefore, if the soul is close to death, one should not lose hope. Sometimes the remembrance of Sayyid Shuhada, Imam Hussain, also brings life to the soul. The soul’s life is necessary. A personality cannot be considered as such until its soul is alive.
Dear respected ones! An important and instructive incident of a complete sage, a perfect knower, Sheikh Bahai (may God elevate his status) is worth mentioning. They went to listen to a sermon in a mosque, where the preacher was giving a speech with the best evidence, the best explanation of the Quran, Hadiths, and traditions included, but people were not affected by his speech.
When Sheikh Bahai saw this situation, by the grace of God, he reached the depths of his inner conscience and insight. He asked people about the person giving the sermon in the mosque, and they guided him to the speaker’s house. He reached the home of the preacher and asked his wife, “Who are you?”
She replied, “I am his wife.”
Sheikh Bahai asked her about her husband.
She replied, “He is busy giving a sermon in the mosque.”
Sheikh Bahai said, “Madam, who are you?”
She said, “I am his wife.”
Sheikh Bahai said, “Madam, I need to tell you something about your husband.”
She said, “Tell me.”
He responded, “Your husband is an excellent preacher, but his sermons are not impactful. It seems like he has committed a sin so grave that God has taken away the influence of his speech.”
After thinking for a few moments, the preacher’s wife said, “He has many good qualities and virtues, but there is a sin in him.”
Upon inqury, the preacher’s wife revealed, “Before going to sleep at night, he engages in a sinful act and then recites: ‘O Concealer, O Forgiver, O Most Merciful.’ After that, he goes to sleep.”
Sheikh Bahai understood the situation immediately. He asked the preacher’s wife to do the same thing that night.
The preacher wife faithfully followed his instructions. The preacher was immediately repentant, and his sin was healed. He vowed never to touch alcohol again.
He truly repented, and when he spoke from the pulpit, the blessings of God and the influence of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were so powerful that people were amazed. They themselves were astonished and offered gratitude in God’s court.
One day, Sheikh Bahai visited his sermon session again, and he saw that due to God’s blessings, and the merciful glance of the Prophet, the speech was filled with impact and influence. Later, the preacher recognized Sheikh Bahai’s spiritual insight and revealed, “Sir, it is through you that I found healing. Thank you very much. May God increase your blessings.”
It is evident that the impact and influence in writing and speech are truly expressions of the height of character and behavior. And now, in the end of this brief and informative article, I present to you the famous event of Bashir Hafi which will please the readers. Bashir Hafi was a term used for a pedestrian. It is known that there used to be music and dance parties at his house.
One day, Imam Musa Kazim passed by his house and heard inappropriate sounds. He asked a passerby, “Whose house is this?”
The passerby replied, “This belongs to a wealthy person and owner.”
Imam replied, “Truly, this is a free man’s house. If he was a slave of God, he wouldn’t do this. He would be concerned about his Lord’s displeasure.”
Bashir’s servant went and conveyed this to him. Bashir was immediately remorseful and ran barefoot to apologize. He begged for forgiveness in the middle of the road, and returned to the path of truth and righteousness. He always remained humble, ensuring that the advice remained in his memory.