THE VOICE WITHIN

Once some young men decided to seek out a great and wise sheikh. They had heard remarkable legends about him. What impressed them most was the one that the Master was so perfect he cast no shadows.

As they approached his abode, they saw him standing at the gate. It seemed he was waiting for them. The sun was shining, but the seekers saw with disappointment that the shadow of his body followed obediently its every movement.

As they stood nonplussed, the sheikh cordially invited them to enter, saying: “I knew I would have some visitors over for lunch and prepared a meal. Do eat with me. You have traveled a long distance and are tired.”

To avoid hurting him and also hide their disappointment, the young men agreed, thinking they would continue their journey after having a rest. “You, probably, were told some nonsense about me,” said the sheikh, looking at them knowingly as they ate, “But it isn’t worth believing everything that people say. It is better to seek the Truth.”

After a pause, he continued, “A lot of legends are fabricated about each Master who works to help people. It is said about me too that I can do whatever I want, that I can heal any illness and return the dead to life. Yet I never can do only that which people wish. I always do only that which Allah wishes, I am just a humble executor of His Will.”

After the meal, the youths made themselves comfortable in a garden. They saw a sick man, his body covered with sores, coming to meet the sheikh.

As the sheikh spoke with him, his face grew brighter. A smile blossomed, then dawned a wonderful look of understanding, and the love for Allah and all beings in His Creation began to shine in his heart. He thanked the sheikh, bowed low, and walked to the gate. Suddenly his skin became clean!

Shocked by the miraculous healing, he came back and thanked the Master again with tears in his eyes, scarcely believing the miracle that had come to pass.

The young men were amazed. “Forgive us!,” they apologized to the sheikh, “We were wrong! You are a great healer who knows human souls! Tell us how you do this!”

“I helped this man to understand and see the cause of what ailed him. When the cause is recognized and eliminated through right understanding and repentance, it is not difficult to heal the body as well,” said the Master, “Every one of us has the ability to purify and transform himself as a soul, thus coming closer to the Purity of the Almighty. When such a transformation is reached, it becomes possible to heal the body.”

So the young men stayed with the sheikh and became his disciples. Many years passed. They learned to see the causes and effects of events, to cleanse the organs inside human bodies with the Light of God, to hear His instructions in the silence of their hearts, to feel His love for people which, among other things, impels one to help those who suffer. They learned to preach Love and Truth.

Finally, when they were ready to go out into the world to serve its people by the knowledge they had received, they bade their Master farewell. As they walked away, they turned around for the last time and saw him standing at the gate, just like on the first day they had met long ago...

And behind him, they could contemplate the shining Light, similar to the risen sun. It was verily the Light of God, flowing, illuminating all around. Indeed, no shadows were to be seen anywhere! It was now they could see this…

— the harbinger

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