Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not take wages from those whom you teach, except such wages as you gave me. Salt of the earth, do not become corrupt. Everything, when it becomes corrupt can be treated with salt, but if salt is corrupted, it has no remedy.”
* * *
“Blessed is he who sees with his heart, but whose heart is not in what he sees.”
* * *
Christ said, “The world is a bridge. Cross this bridge, but do not build upon it.”
* * *
Christ passed by a group of people who hurled insults at him, and he responded with blessings. He passed by another group who insulted him, and he responded likewise. One of his disciples asked, “Why is it that the more they insult you, the more you bless them, as if inviting this upon yourself?” Christ said, “A person can bring forth only what is within him.”
* * *
Jesus passed by a young man who was watering a garden. The young man said to Jesus, “Ask your God to grant me an atom’s weight of love for Him.” Jesus said, “You cannot bear an atom’s weight.” The young man said, “Then half an atom’s weight.” Jesus prayed, “O God, grant him half an atom’s weight of love for You.” Jesus then passed on. A long time later Jesus was passing through the place where the young man used to be and, asking about him, was told, “He has gone mad and left for the mountains.”
Jesus prayed to God to reveal his place, and saw him up in the mountains. He found him standing on a rock, staring up at the sky. Jesus greeted him, but the young man did not return his greeting, and so he said, “I am Jesus.” God then revealed to Jesus, “How can he whose heart has half an atom’s weight of love for me hear the words of human beings? By my glory and might, even if you were to saw him through, he would not be aware of it.”
from: The Muslim Jesus
Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature
edited and translated by Tarif Khalidi
Beautiful and with deep messages the Tales of Jesus. The last tale is wonderful and very profound, if only we had half an atoms weight of love in our hearts for God, nothing else would matter, we would be totally devoted to him, to the Divine. But then is it so difficult to find hat love for God in our human hearts, because we get easily distracted with earthly matters and pay more attention to them than to God. Is a matter of not loosing our faith, of finding strength even in the worst of the situations, finding peace and confort in our prayers and trusting his loving hand helping us to overcome even the most difficult situations.
I am really enjoying The Inner Call. The stories and the poems are perfect and they seem to echo my own thoughts and ideas.
I feel I know Nawab better through them, and that I may be less alone in some of my poetic enthusiasms.
It is just right for me, and “fits” me but is also challenging and insightful in ways I haven’t read before.
I even have a copy of The Muslim Jesus.
(these comments were originally intended for and sent to Nuria Daly)