بسم اللہ الرحمٰن الرحیم
A Letter written by the Promised Messiahas, when he was young, to his father:
The letter, reproduced below, shows the other-worldliness of Hazrat Mirza Sahib even in his youth. He wanted all his time for devotion to God. In accordance with custom the letter was written in Persian:
My master and father, Peace!
With tender obeisance and due abasement, I beg to submit that I can see with eyes wide open that every year some calamity overtakes countries and towns which separates friend from friend and relation from relation. Alas, these calamities, these tragedies, produce not the wail and woe they should. Seeing all this, my heart has turned cold towards the world, and my face has become pale with fear. Often do I remember the two lines from Sheikh Muslih-ud-Din Saadi of Shiraz and my tears flow when I do so:
مکن تکیہ بر عمر ناپائیدار
مباش ایمن از بازی روزگار
Depend not on this transient life;
think not you are safe from the sport of passing time.
The two lines out of the verse of Farrukh* of Qadian also act as salt for my wounded heart:
بد نیائے دوں دل بسند اے جواں
کہ وقت اجل مے رسد ناگہاں
Young one, set not thy heart on this mean world.
The moment of death may come suddenly.
Therefore I desire to spend the rest of my life in solitude, to shun the company of men and remain occupied in the worship of God that this may atone for past neglect and guard against possible disasters.
عمر بگزشت و نماندست جزایامے چند
بہ کہ در یاد کسے صبح کنم شامے چند
Life has run its course and no thing is left except a few steps,
Better, therefore, that I keep awake a few nights in remembrance of some one.
This world has no firm foundation and life here is not dependable. ‘Wise is he who learns from the example of others.’
And peace.
__________________
When his father died, Hazrat Mirza Sahib withdrew from everything mundane, leading a life of study, prayer, fasting, and sleepless nights.
*Pen name of the Promised Messiahas
The Promised Messiahas writes:
Though different people, on account of their shortsightedness or lack of courage, appoint various types of objectives for their lives and stop short at worldly purposes and desires, yet the purpose that God Almighty has specified in His Holy Word is: I have created jinn and men so that they should worship me (51: 57) . According to this verse the true purpose of human life is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and devotion to Him. It is obvious that it is not open to man that he should himself appoint the purpose of his life by his own authority inasmuch as man does not arrive in the world of his own will, nor will he depart from this world of his own will. He is a created being and He Who created him and bestowed upon him better and higher faculties than those bestowed upon other animates, has appointed a purpose for his life. Whether anyone comprehends that purpose or not, without doubt the purpose of man’s creation is the worship and understanding of God Almighty and to lose himself in Him (Islami Usul ki Philosophy; Now printed in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 10, p. 100).
The real purpose of all the external and internal limbs and faculties that have been bestowed on man is understanding and worship and love of God. That is why, despite a thousand occupations, man does not find his true well being except in God Almighty. Having acquired great wealth, or achieved high office, or having become a great merchant, or having acquired governing authority, or become a great philosopher, he departs in the end from these worldly involvements with a sense of frustration. His heart rebukes him all the time about his deep concern with the world and his conscience never approves his wiles and deceits and wrongful actions. This problem can be appreciated in another way. The purpose of the creation of a thing is determined by its highest achievement beyond which its faculties cannot rise. For instance, the highest a bullock is capable of is ploughing, or irrigation, or transportation, and therefore these are the purpose of its life and it cannot rise above them. But when we take stock of man’s faculties and powers to discover his highest capacity, we find that he is invested with the faculty of seeking after God so much so that he desires that he should become so devoted to God’s love that he should have nothing of his own and that everything should become God’s. He shares his natural needs like food and drink and rest with other animates, and in industry some animals are ahead of him; for instance, the bees produce such excellent honey from every type of flower that man has so far not been able to compete with them. It is clear, therefore, that the highest capacity of man is meeting with God Almighty and thus the true purpose of his life is that the window of his heart should open towards God.
Source: The Essence of Islam
Random Quotes about Death
Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows. Michael Landon
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. Norman Cousins
Everyone dies eventually, whether they have power or not. That’s why you need to think about what you’ll accomplish while you’re alive. Mary Macbeth
Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected. Sogyal Rinpoche