Stories
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Service of the Sultan or Effort of the Arm
A conversation between two brothers about which is better - serving the sultan or the effort of the arm.
· Gulistān of Muśleħ al Dīn Sa'dī
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The Vizier and Dhul-noon al-Misri ق
Dhul Noon al-Misri ق compares the service of the vizier to the sultan to his own service to God
· Gulistān of Muśleħ al Dīn Sa'dī
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Thou Repayest Tenfold, and I Firmly Believed
Rābe‘a al Adawiya's firm belief in God's word results in a meal worthy of her notable guests.
· Tadhkirāt al Awliyā by Farīd al-Dīn Attār ق
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The Night Rābe‘a Came to Earth
Rābe‘a al Adawiya's birth and her father's covenant that he would never ask any mortal for anything.
· Tadhkirāt al Awliyā by Farīd al-Dīn Attār ق
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On Seeing the Good in People
A man no one mourned cannot be lifted into his grave — until Shaykh Abd al-Khaliq al-Ghujduwānī ق discovers the single salaam that saved him.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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On Keeping Silent
Jibril ﵇ descends at night with a warning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ must convey before dawn — and Sayyadina Abu Bakr al-Siddiq ﵁ places a stone in his mouth.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Pharaoh's Judgement Against Himself
Two angels in human form bring Fir'awn a case to judge — and obtain in writing, sealed by his own hand, the verdict that will drown him in the sea.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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The Speech of Saints
One man marvels that the universe could enter a sesame seed; another calls it madness. Seven years as a donkey are required to teach him otherwise.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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The Zoroastrian and the Good Pleasure of Allah ﷻ
A Zoroastrian disciplines his son for eating during Ramadan out of respect for the Muslims — and is led, by that one act of courtesy, to faith.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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The Prostitute and her Good Deed
A traveller in the time of Sayyadina Musa ﵇ climbs into a well to bring water to a dying dog — and is granted forgiveness for the whole of her past.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Imām al-Ghazzālī ق and the Good Pleasure of Allah ﷻ
The awliya watch the soul of Imam al-Ghazzālī ق rise to a station they cannot place — until they learn it was won by a moment of stillness for a fly.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Hadrat Umar bin al-Khattāb ﵅ and the Good Pleasure of Allah ﷻ
In a dream after his passing, Sayyadina Umar ﵅ tells of the small mercy by which he was forgiven — not the deeds the world remembers him for.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Reflecting on what is Yours
On hearing of the death of his two sons, Shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn al-Ghumūqī ق teaches his wife — and us — how to hold what was only ever held in trust.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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In What will Certainty Consist?
Habib al-Ajami ق gives away his guest's bread to a beggar, and gently teaches Imam Hasan al-Basri ق what certainty (yaqīn) really is.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Understanding servanthood and killing your self
Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ق calls a crowd of his affiliates to be slaughtered for Allah's sake — and discovers who among them is truly his murīd.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Men of the Unseen
A qadi resolves to humble a Sufi he meets in an alley — and is met instead by every form the man assumes, until his certainty about appearances breaks.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Azrael and the Man who Fled to Prophet Solomon ﵇
A man flees Azrael ﵇ to the furthest corner of India on the wind of Sulaiman ﵇ — only to discover where his appointed hour was always to be.
· Mathnawi of Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ق
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The Spiritual Energy of True Men
A young man hears a single sentence on the high energy (himma) of true men and, on the strength of it alone, sets out to marry a king's daughter.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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The Honour of the Ant
An ant carries a single drop of water to the pyre of Sayyadina Ibrahim ﵇ — and is honoured with a chapter of the Qur'an for an effort the world would call useless.
· Lore of Light by Hajjah Amina Adil ق
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Who Are You Looking For?
Mawlana Rumi ق answers a grieving father searching for his lost son with a single question we would do well to ask of ourselves.
· The Lights of Guidance by Mawlana Shakykh Nazim ق
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Some Words About Love
Sumnun al-Muhibb ق rises to speak of love and, finding no listener fit to receive his words, addresses the chandeliers — which shatter at the sound.
· Radical Love by Omid Safi
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One Thing Which Must Never Be Forgotten
Mawlana Rumi ق teaches that there is one task each soul is sent into this world to perform — and forgetting it makes every other accomplishment hollow.
· Discourses of Rumi ق