HAZRAT INAYAT KHAN - - - In Honor of Hejirat Day In Honor of Hejirat Day

SANGATHA II

Wasiat, Precept

The Prophetic Mission

The prophetic mission has had in all ages difficulties and trials to go through. It was not only that the Masters had to go through difficulties and trials, but also those who sincerely followed them and stood for the Cause. One reads in the life of Jesus Christ how it began with trials and difficulties, how the youth of the Master had been full of trials and difficulties, and they who followed him, what difficulties they had. The same thing happened at the time of Moses.

It was so also at the time of Mohammed. The difficulties had no end and how his pupils and defenders sacrificed their lives one reads in his life.

His most sincere devotee, Ali, on hearing that there was a plot made by his adversaries to assassinate him on a certain night, managed to get the Prophet away that night from home, and he slept in the bed of the Prophet that evening, that any danger that was to come on the Prophet he might take on himself.

And the bravery that the Prophet had shown at different times, that gives the proof what the prophetic mission means, and the pictures of its difficulties and trials.

Three times Mohammed was exiled from Mecca, and among those folk, his relatives and the lives of many devoted followers of the Prophet were sacrificed in this struggle. For they did not want to have one person left in Mecca who believed in the Message. They did not exile only Mohammed, but all his pupils, and not one single paper of his writings might be left in Mecca.

One day in exile, on the way, they heard the noise of many horses coming; and the Prophet had one disciple with him and there was a party of riders following them in order to assassinate the Prophet. When they heard they sat behind a large rock, but Siddiq, the pupil of the Prophet, was trembling. He said, "But they are many." The Prophet said, "And what are we?" The pupil said, "We are only two." "No," said the Prophet, "We are three, I, you, and God."

With this courage and strength the Prophet endured the struggle that the prophetic mission brought in his life. And do not think that Buddha or Krishna went smoothly through their prophetic lives and had no struggles; there were wars and battles and troubles of all sorts.

The Message in Our Time

Now, when we come to the Message which it has been the destiny of the Sufi Movement to give and spread, it has not less difficulties, it has difficulties of its own kind. In many ways the difficulties are similar, the difficulties with friends and the difficulties with foes. And therefore if we shall say that history repeats itself, it will never be an exaggeration. But at the same time we see that during all the times whenever the prophetic Message was given to the world there have been real sincere friends who have proved to be so during all difficulties and trials, whose names have been engraved in the history of the religion of the world, having stood through all difficulties and trials which have fallen upon the prophets, and after thousands of people came and turned their back to the prophet, they have not so, they have stuck.

When Jesus Christ was asked, "What is the evidence of your prophecy?" he said, "The devotion of my disciples." He did not say that it was his power of miracle or his qualification that was the evidence. No, for it is the friend of God who is the friend of his disciples, and that friendship, as my Murshid has once said, the friendship in the path of Truth and God, is greater than any friendship in the world. I should be very happy and I am happy to feel that among my mureeds there are some souls whom I can count upon in my times of difficulties and trials. I have not the slightest doubt about this.

But there is something which I should like to bring to the minds of my mureeds, and that is the importance of every moment of our lives in the world, how precious and invaluable is every moment of our lives, since we are blessed to strive in the path of serving God and humanity in giving the Sufi Message. We cannot, therefore, put off something which we can do today until tomorrow.

The Present Need

And now the greatest need that we have before us is the need of workers. Some of my mureeds may perhaps feel, "There are some who have already a charge given, it is their duty to work. We are only simple mureeds, why should we work hard? Perhaps when we shall be appointed to some certain work, then we will do it." But they must not think like this, they must know that, whatever be their position in life, if they at all intend to serve the Cause, they can serve it in some way or other.

And if they only know the greatest need of serving the Cause at the moment when it has come as an answer to the cry of humanity, and if they only knew every moment that is being lost, what loss it is, they would feel in the same way as I feel very often, my heart full of anxiety and eagerness for the way that the Movement is progressing and spreading. If I see this and at the same time the work that we have to accomplish, I cannot help being very much discouraged. If it was not for my trust in God and in His Message, it would have been most difficult for me to carry on the work. And now every day the time of the Message is becoming more precious, and I wish that my mureeds will remember that saying that "Life is an opportunity," and if this opportunity is lost, that which will be accomplished will be accomplished, but that privilege is lost.

Remember that I do not ask of my mureeds to give as a return for all they receive their service to the Cause, because that would be commerce, that would be business; but I wish that such mureeds who really have sympathy, devotion, feeling for their Murshid and the Cause, that they should understand how best they can be serviceable to the Cause. Imagine, there is one Murshid and a Message to be given to the whole world, how many places will he go to, one person limited in a physical body? Do you, then, not think that we want several speakers in our Movement?

The Need for Speakers

It is very easy for a person to say, "Well, I do not think that I have a gift of speaking, I cannot help it." All comes with belief. When you have the belief that you can speak, you can speak. When you trust in what Murshid says, when Murshid says, "Go and speak," that is enough for you. When the Prophet said, "Go and defend the Message," they went with their swords and risked their lives. If Murshid says, "Go before the people and speak of the Message," it is perhaps not so very difficult as going with a sword and fighting.

We ought to be thankful that today there is no need of taking sword, but at the same time the sword of words is necessary. Besides that, we want people to be engaged in translating the different books and Gathekas and different literature, that they may be heard by those who do not understand the English language. Then there are others who have some social influence; they, in their own society, among their friends, can spread the interest, in order that the Message may take root in the heart of people of their class. I shall be going out in different countries, I shall need some people to go and create interest. I will need some people, after I have given the Message to gather people together, form a group and to continue the work there.

I do not mean to say that you should all leave all your home responsibilities and activities in order to give all your time to the Message. Some of you may be able to do it, some not. But in some way or the other all my mureeds can help. If only they thought that their help is needed and badly needed, at this time when the Message should spread through the whole world. Now, for instance, I may be going to Italy, there may be some among you who may to going there too; I may be going perhaps to the North of Europe, may be that some of you may be going there. If it happens that you go before my going, you may, by visiting that place, create interest, so that I will have a facility when I shall be there; and perhaps you may be there at the time that I shall be there.

Holding the Atunement

You can be so useful to me in a place where there is nobody. Some of you may be staying after I have visited the place. You can always keep that gathering intact as long as you are there, and then give it in the hands of someone else. Then, besides this, one can always do something with one's friends; the one who wishes to serve the Cause, has every chance doing things for it. When travelling in the trains one can do so much, making a voyage in the ship one can do a great work. It all depends upon the idea that the Message must be given to any part of the world.

And I am sure if for one moment you gave thought to what difficulty it must have been in the life of the Murshid to have brought the Sufi Message to the point where it is now, something which was not known in the Western world -- have I not spoken before three people for six months continually? Have I not gone where people have called me, whether appreciative or not, poor or rich, to spread the Message when there was no trace of our Sufi Movement, no organization, no one knew, no friends except God? Even this feeling can create in your heart that sympathy for your Murshid. And now the time has come that your devotion can best be expressed in serving the Cause.