Mullah Nasruddin always tried to be worthy of his turban, but sometimes he could speak as bluntly as the next person. Once it happened that he was present when a cleric of very pious manner was giving a sermon and perhaps Nasruddin was not very convinced by his piety.
“In all that befalls us,” the cleric earnestly told the congregation, “we must always turn toward God. When we are blessed, we must give thanks unceasingly! And when we are afflicted with hardship, we must humbly accept His will and endure the difficulties He has sent with patience.”
“Friend,” said Nasruddin, “then kindly tell me: if someone catches you in a secluded place and commits an indecent act against you, would you consider it a blessing to be grateful for? Or a calamity to endure with patience?”
Discover more from The Inner Call
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Beloved Mushid, I am intrigued!
Is it a lack of piety to segregate events in blessings and hardships? Is there no difference between them or are they different?
Beloved brother Baasit, thank you for your thought! Blessings and hardships are aspects of God’s creation, but what the cleric giving the sermon left out of the picture is our own will – which, very interestingly, falls into both of the mentioned categories. Yes, we must give thanks for the blessings – but the real blessing is in the recognition of the blessing. If we recognize the blessing of our will, we may often avoid or reduce the hardships. And those we cannot avoid, we must endure with patience.