We continue with the series of teachings by Hazrat Inayat Khan on the art of personality. The previous post in the series may be found here. In the final paragraph below, Hazrat Inayat mentions two stories that may be unfamiliar to westerners. Haris Chandra was a legendary king of India who, in order to fulfil a promise, gave away his kingdom, all his possessions, his clothes, and when that was not sufficient, even sold his wife and son. Forced to take work as the guardian of a cremation ground, he ultimately had to deny his wife permission to cremate the body of their dead son as she did not have the necessary fee. Hatim (or Hatim Tai) is the hero of a long series of linked tales in which he overcomes innumerable perils and difficulties, such as battles with wild beasts, magic enchantments and demons, in order to fulfil a promise made to a friend.
A noble-minded person shows, as something natural in his character, a respect for his word, which is called his word of honor. For that person his word is himself; and this reality can increase to such an extent that even his life could be sacrificed for his work. Someone who has reached this stage is not far from God, for many times in the Scriptures it is said, ‘If you want to see Us, see Us in our words.’ If God can be seen in His words, the true soul can be seen in his word. Pleasure, displeasure, sweetness, bitterness, honesty, dishonesty, all these are to be discerned in the words man speaks; for the word is the expression of the thought, and thought is the expression of the feeling. And what is man? Man is his thought and feeling. So what is the word? The word is man’s expression of his soul.
The man on whose word you can rely, that man is dependable. No wealth of this world can be compared with one’s word of honor. A man who says what he means proves his spirituality by this virtue. To a real person, to go back on his word is worse than death, for it is going backwards instead of going forward. Every soul is going onward toward his goal; and the person who is really going onward shows it in his word. At the present time it is necessary to have so many courts and so many lawyers and hence so many prisons which are increasing more every day, that this all shows the lack of that virtue which has been valued by the noble-minded ever since the beginning of civilization; for in this quality man shows his human virtue, a quality which neither belongs to the animals nor is attributed to the angels. What is religion? Religion in the true sense of the word is beyond explanation. It is a thin thread, too delicate to be touched, for it is too sacred to be touched. It is the ideal, which can be polluted if it is touched; and it can be found in that sensitiveness which in other words may be called spirituality, the regard for the word.
Many in this world have undergone sacrifices; sufferings and pains have been inflicted on them, but it was only to put their virtue of the word to the test, for every virtue has to prove itself by going through a testing fire. When it has proved itself in its trial it becomes a solid virtue. This can be practiced in every little thing one does in one’s daily life. A person who says at one moment one thing and another moment another thing, even his own heart begins to disbelieve him.
Among the great ones who have come to the earth from time to time, and have shown a great many virtues, this virtue has been the most pronounced. Mohammed, before coming before the world as a prophet, was called Amin by his comrades, which means trustworthy. The story of Haris Chandra is known to the Hindus down the ages, the example he has set is engraved upon the mind of the whole race. The story of Hatim, a Sufi of ancient times, has been a great inspiration to the people of Persia. In whatever part of the world and in whatever period, by the thoughtful and those with ideals the word of honor will be valued most.