On Getting on with People
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Mankind is subject to conflicting impulses. People want to be unique, but they are also a social animals. Uniqueness is an attribute of our Lord and we have all been given a share of that Divine attribute in that we are all different physically and in the realm of personality. In fact, there is a unique Divine Name reflected in each and every one of us, a Divine Name from which the Lord has bestowed a share on us to the exclusion of others. Because of this we have an intrinsic tendency to see ourselves as being unique – because we are - but the mistake is to see ourselves as being superior to others, for it is in unity with others that we fulfil our potential for completeness, when our unique name is made manifest through the act of joining it to the whole of the Divine Attributes.
The way to the fulfilment of this great potential passes through being sociable with people. Whoso finds a way to the hearts of mankind finds his Lord’s Divine Presence. This is why the Holy Prophet brought people together in informal meetings. But don’t think this is an easy task! The power to draw people together is a gift of Heaven. The prophets and their inheritors have been granted the gift of addressing people’s hearts directly, so that all those whose hearts are not of stone, all open hearted people … must be affected by their message.
Usually a humble class of people responded widely to the message of the Prophets as, being close to nature, they were more easily able to distinguish something living from a fabrication.
In general, women also were more open to the message of the Prophets than men, because women’s hearts are more easily opened; men’s hearts are often locked tightly.
The sign of real spiritual transmission is that hearts are affected and softened so that real familiarity and affection grow among the recipients of that transmission. That is the first step towards real faith. You aren’t a real believer until you want for others what you would like for yourself, until you can put yourself in the shoes even of those with whom you find yourself in conflict.. Until you can feel affection and familiarity towards a group of fellow seekers, it is impossible to imagine sympathy for people inimical to yourself.
How is it possible to open up your heart to your fellow beings? Your hearts must meet in the heart of one of Allah’s saints. In their hearts is a Divine Attraction, and it is that power which enables them to be a medium for the binding of hearts. If there is no connection to the Source of all love, the Lord of all beings, – then no really lasting familiarity can develop between people, only the commonplace surface familiarity that is so easily set aside when self-interest intervenes.
If a person has not undergone training at the hand of an inheritor of a prophet it is impossible to bear with troublesome people. He will become like a thorn bush, unapproachable, always ready to prick whoever approaches, friend or foe. Usually however, such people are unable to perceive that they are prickly. They attribute the thorniness to others. This is not surprising. It is a common mechanism of the human psyche to put off on others our own objectionable characteristics. We are all mirrors, but we do not realise that it is our own ugliness we are abhorring in others. The Lord sympathises with His creatures; and whoso has received a ray of that Attribute may find his heart inclining towards people. This familiarity is a transmission from heart to heart.
Don’t bother with my words, just receive my transmission.
Familiarity with our fellow beings is only the first level upon which Divine familiarity is made manifest. The truly loving soul evokes affection even from wild animals. Once I was with my Grandsheikh in the countryside. As we approached the house of the person we had gone to visit, a yellow dog started to rush at us with his tail curved between his legs like a scorpion. I thought that we would be torn to shreds, but then, as the dog came within clear sight of us, his whole aspect changed. Even though Grandsheikh had never been there before and therefore the dog did not recognise him in the ordinary sense, he began to wag his tail. The dog approached and Grandsheikh rubbed his head. At this the vicious guard dog took on the aspect of a frolicking puppy, rolling on the ground and prancing about. Then Grandsheihk explained to me, “He recognised me. I am no stranger to anyone.”
Abridged from a talk by Sheikh Nazim published in Ocean of Unity
