Ibn Hazm mentions in his work Tawq al-Hamamah
a tale of a famous Spanish businessman:
There was competition between him
and four other businessmen and as a result, they disliked him. They were
therefore determined to aggravate him. One morning, he left his house to go to
his workplace, wearing a white shirt and turban. One of the four businessmen
met him on the way. He greeted the Spanish businesman, looked at his turban and
said, “How beautiful this yellow turban is!”
The businessman said, “Are you
blind? This turban is white!”
He replied, “No, it is yellow! It
is yellow, but it looks good.”
The businessman left him and moved
on until he met the second of them. He greeted him, then looked at his turban
and said, “You look handsome today! Your clothes look fine! Especially this
green turban!”
The businessman said, “Actually,
the turban is white.”
“No, it is green,” he insisted.
He replied, “It is white! Go away
from me!”
The businessman walked on, talking
to himself, and every now and then looking at the flank of his turban to make
sure that it was indeed white. He reached his shop and opened up the lock.
Meanwhile, there came to him the third of the four businessmen and said, “How beautiful
this morning is! And especially your clothes, they look fine! And your
beautiful blue turban only adds to your good looks!”
The businessman looked at his turban
to ascertain its colour, then rubbed his eyes and said, “Dear brother! My
turban is white!”
“No, it is blue. But the important
thing is that it looks good, so don’t worry!” the man said, and left, as the
businessman began to yell after him saying, “The turban is white!” as he looked
at his turban to ascertain its colour once again.
He sat in his shop for a while and
couldn’t take his eyes off his turban. Meanwhile, the fourth person came and
said, “Greetings!
Mashaa Allah! From where did you
buy this red turban?”
The businessman shouted, “My
turban is blue!”
He replied, “No, it is red.”
The businessman said, “No, it is
green! Actually, no, it is white!
No, it is blue, or black!” He then
laughed out loud, then screamed, then began to cry and then started to jump up
and down!
Ibn Hazm said, ‘Thereafter, I would see him in the streets
of Spain. He had gone mad and children would pelt stones at him.’
If these four people, by using their
skills, were able to change not only the nature of the person but also his
mind, then how about the tried and tested skills that are supported by
revelation which a person can put into practice in order to become closer to
Allah?
Put into practice whatever good
skills you come across and you will be happy.
If you say to me, “I cannot.”
I would say to you, “At least
try!”
If you say to me, “I don’t know
how.”
I would say, “Yes, you do!”
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “Knowledge is only gained through learning,
and clemency is only gained through perseverance.”
Source:
The book, ‘ENJOY YOUR LIFE’ by Dr. Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Rahman al-‘Arifi
No comments:
Post a Comment