Temporary Beauty
Once Malik ibn Dinar(rh) was passing through the streets of Basra, where he happened to see a female servant walking with the kind of pomp and show generally displayed by the maidservants of kings. Upon witnessing the manner of her walking Hazrat Malik called her and said,: "O handmaid, would your master like to sell you?" She was really surprised to hear this and said, "What? Repeat it again." Hazrat Malik did accordingly, at which she said, "Would a beggar like you be able to purchase me if the master agreed to sell at all?" He replied in the affirmative, adding that he could purchase a better one than her. On hearing this she laughed and ordered the servants to take the beggar along with them (just as an amusement for the master). On reaching home she narrated the event to her master, who laughed boisterously and ordered Hazrat Malik to be brought before him. When Hazrat Malik was brought forward, the master was over-awed and asked, "What do you want?" In reply, he advised him to sell his handmaid to him. The master asked, "Can you pay her price?" Hazrat Malik replied, "For me her price is no more than two stones of dates." On hearing this the whole audience began to laugh. The master asked, "What prompted you to fix this price for her?" He replied that there were many shortcomings in her. Upon the master's request Hazrat Malik enumerated them thus:
'If she does not apply perfume her body emits a foul smell. If she does not clean her teeth they begin to putrefy. If she does not comb her hair it becomes infested with lice. On becoming a bit older she would appear like an old woman not worthy to be loved. She menstruates. She makes water and relieves herself. In other words she emits all sorts of filth (spittle, mucus, saliva). She suffers from agonies and hardships. Being greedy, she shows her love to you merely for her self interests and material benefits. Today, if any loss is incurred by her due to you, the whole edifice of her love would crumble down in no time. She is based on falsehood. As soon as you breathe your last, she will sit by the side of another person and sing of her permanent and everlasting love for him, in the same way as she did for you.
In contrast, I have a handmaid a thousand times better than your handmaid. Her price is very little. She is made of camphor's essence. She has been fashioned out of musk and saffron. She is covered by pearls and light. If her spittle is cast in salty water, it will become sweet. Should she speak to a dead man, he would be revived. If her wrist is shown to the sun, it will suffer darkness and eclipse. If she visits a place of darkness, it will be illuminated. If she happens to appear in the world with all her elegance, the whole world will become fragrant. She is brought up in the gardens of musk and saffron. She has played amongst the branches of ruby and coral. Her abode is a place of great blessings. She drinks water from Tasnim (a fountain in paradise). She never backs out of her word. Her love is everlasting." Hazrat Malik (rh) then asked the master to let him know which handmaid is more beneficial to him. All said unanimously that the handmaid described by Hazrat Malik (rh) was far more valuable. Then Hazrat Malik said, "Every one can afford to buy her at any time and in every age. The master set the maidservant free, and both of them bade farewell to the worldly pleasures and dedicated themselves to worship of Allah (SWT).
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The Me you have always known, the Me that's a stranger still.
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Sunday, October 28, 2007
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