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The Birth of a New Year (2006)
We have reached the turning point of the calendar when the old year and its corruption is
slipping into its grave and the New Year is on the point of emerging untainted as yet. Let us
allow the old year to pass away with dignity and let us try to impress on the New Year our
hopes and aspirations.
Life is a continuous process of passing away and coming into existence. The things which
count from the past years are those things that in their very nature are permanent, which is to
say they have about them the flavour of divine Reality. Let us explore what those things are.
They are the things which constitute our inner garden. Our inner garden is a metaphor for our
personality.
When we decide to build an actual garden we recognise that the seasons will pass over it –
that at times it will appear wintry and desolate – at other times it will appear full of fresh
blossoms. We take this into account but we are really concerned year on year to establish the
different features of the garden, an ornamental pool, a pathway, borders, well laid out lawns
and so on. These features will remain relatively constant. It is just so in building our
personality.
In the garden we know that events will occur that will affect the appearance, but if the garden is
well founded and designed, and the soil well prepared; bulbs and seeds planted in a timely
fashion and so on, these things will pass, and at other favourable times we will be rewarded
with something beautiful; with sweet smelling flowers or luscious fruit. If we leave our garden
untended the times of bad weather will wreak disproportionate havoc and the times of
flowering and benign weather will bring little but a sporadic and incidental untrained growth.
Events in the New Year will bring their difficulties and their opportunities but if we have worked
conscientiously to prepare the garden of our personality the negative effects of events will be
minimised and then, when the sweet breath of the divine (the Nafas Ar-Rehman), blows our
way we will be able to draw from it the many benefits it can bring.
Thus it is our task to establish the features of our personality that have a lasting effect. The
specific nature of the things we do may vary according to our culture and beliefs. They include
regular prayer, constructive introspection, reading good books and keeping good company,
visits to places of holiness such as churches, synagogues, mosques or temples, or the shrines
or memorials to great saints, regularly counting our blessings, remembrance of God, charity of
heart and so on. If these and other such things are practised with sincerity and assiduously they
can have an immense impact on us in good times or bad.
The importance of the development of our personality is made clear by the words of Mevlana
Rumi, that great knower of spiritual mysteries, when he says, 'I have not seen in the world of
search and seeking any worthiness better than a good disposition'.
Often people think that personality is something we have, which we are powerless to alter. We
have inherited it. It is how we are. But though in truth it is the ‘Real Gardener’ that makes our
wilderness into a garden, we cannot shirk the responsibility of being receptive to His
promptings, which ever flow towards us at every moment. We can develop our personality with
effort, humility, sincerity and work.
There is some truth in the concept of personality as a given, but what I am suggesting to you
here is really part of a process of purification which enables the positive potential of that
personality to be realised – you may be surprised to find out who you really are.
One of the most important means by which we can develop ourselves is in learning the
technique of controlling our thoughts. Mevlana Rumi says:
'O! Brother, you are that same thought of yours; as for the rest you are only bone and fibre.
If your thought is a rose, you are a rose garden.'
People tend to assume that thoughts are just a natural flow of mental activity over which we
have little control, yet when people are in desperate straits with mental health problems such
as depression, one of the techniques that is most widely used nowadays is to train the person
to recognise and alter their thought patterns – there is a process called ‘cognitive therapy’
which is used for this purpose. But how much better if we do not wait until things have reached
such a pass, but practice the art of managing our thoughts and developing healthier patterns of
thinking even when our situation is much better. Sustained and regular practise is required.
Thoughts are also affected by other things such as breathing, the food we eat, and the
company we keep. These are not the specific topic in hand but the best general rule (practised
by Sufis throughout the ages) is - to eat less, talk less, and sleep less. Moderation is important
in all these things - excess even in things that are good for us can turn the good effects into bad
- it is a device our lower nature, beware of it.
First we have to learn to recognise our thoughts and feelings for what they are – to observe
them dispassionately, both at times when we are at rest and at times when we are occupied.
We will find some recognisable patterns – maybe we regularly try to protect ourselves from
disappointment by being pessimistic. Maybe we are unrealistic in our expectations, maybe we
are mentally lazy or transfer blame on to others rather than honestly acknowledging our own
faults. Maybe in order to protect ourselves from hurtful feelings we hurt others first; perhaps we
are negatively overcritical to ourselves and tending towards moroseness and isolation.
Perhaps we cover over our lack of confidence with bravado. The range of thought patterns are
immense and often become habitual with out our recognising it. Nowadays people try very
hard to improve people’s health by helping them overcome addictions to tobacco or drink or
drugs but they may neglect the harmful effects of our habits of thought in the wider context of
our personality.
Dr Sharib offers us the solution of using the ‘law of substitution’ this means that once we have
identified a negative thought we immediately seek for its opposite. Thus thoughts of hate
become replaced with thoughts of love, thoughts of greed with thoughts of generosity and so
on. This is a helpful practice.
We should not be overly analytical about the root causes of our thoughts. When we find a
negative pattern of thought let us concentrate on changing that pattern to a better one. Dr
Sharib has said – ‘I am not the least interested in what you are or what you were – but with
what you would like to become’.
We must become our own physician. Shakespeare said: ‘Canst thou minister to a mind
diseased………therein the patient must minister to himself’.
To find a better pattern of thought we should look to a model we can aspire to emulate. A
pious Muslim might take the model of the holy Prophet as an ideal and seek to emulate his
mode of behaviour personality traits such as trustworthiness. A Christian perhaps may take the
forgiving nature of Lord Jesus, or a Hindu the compassionate detachment of Lord Krishna and
so on. One who does not follow a religious path may look for some other model of greatness in
a Shakespeare, Johnson or Tolstoy etc.
The Sufis regard the holy Prophet as the exemplar of both religion and mysticism, and Hazrat
Ali as the gate way to inner knowledge. They may also take thought patterns of the other
companions and the great saints as a model too.
If your response to all this is to say ‘but I am far below such people’ that may be a humble
response, but you may still have their personality in mind as an inspiration and as an ideal.
Abraham Maslow, the humanist psychologist used to say to his students when confronted with
this objection to aspiring after emulating such models, that somebody must aspire to this .. ‘if
not you, then who..?’.
The point is we can work to change ourselves from within. The holy Qur’an tells us that God
does not change a people unless they change themselves.
There are some pitfalls, and as always I will say that the best way to avoid pitfalls is to put your
hand into the hand of a competent guide. Do not underestimate the seriousness of this remark!
If it was your body that required some repair or treatment you would put yourself in the hands of
a surgeon or doctor wouldn't you; or if you wanted to bring your body to height of perfection for
some sport you put yourself in the hands of a trainer; you probably even rely on an expert to
mend your car. How much more then should we seek the help we need when it comes to our
spiritual development. Hafiz says; 'Do not take one step on the path of Love without a true
guide'.
Here are one or two of the pitfalls to be avoided.
• Some people think that personality refers to the outward aspects of a person – their
dress and physical appearance. They may think that when I suggest taking great personalities
as exemplars I refer to these outward attributes, but a beard and an Arab head dress does not
make a man like the holy Prophet inside. This is a complete misunderstanding. Real
development of personality is not about creating an image to impress others but to develop
internally so as to be acceptable to the Divine.
• Some people make an effort to change some part of themselves but they guard that little
change so over zealously that they inhibit any further growth. It is as if they plant a seed in the
corner of the garden and then spend all their time building a wall around it - till the wall inhibits
the sunshine and the seed dies. Sometimes people who have changed their religious
convictions fall into this trap. People who find themselves in different culture can also encounter
this problem.
We must beware also of the tendency to twist truth to suit our lower nature. In his play 'Twelfth
Night' Shakespeare has a character called Sir Toby Belch, who though endearing in some
respects, excuses his drunkenness and debauchery with the expression - 'Ah well - its all one'.
True - but the underlying unity of being is not the same as a licence for licentiousness.
• Prejudice is like this too. A person identifies with the patterns of a particular racial or
religious or sectarian or class based mode of thought, or a right or left political bias. Thereafter
they protect this identification by clinging desperately to it and denying or repelling anything
other than it.
Our garden needs its walls as protection against the evils in life, but they must be at the
borders of the garden. Within it, must be accommodated a wide variety of flowers and trees
and shrubs and lawns and fountains. Today we live in a pluralistic society.
When I visit Konya I attend the Dergah (Sufi meeting place) of Nuri Baba Kuchukiplikchi which
is currently overseen by Hazrat Ali Baba. During other times of the year the order meets for the
practice of Zikr (remembrance of God by repeating his name) under strict conditions, with
ladies behind a curtain etc. During the Festival of Mevlana however they play host to a wide
range of guests, both men and women, from many nationalities and with many different
understandings of Sufism – who are permitted within boundaries, to express themselves
through ‘turning’ or singing or playing instruments or in other ways.
• Another pitfall is to become overly philosophical, developing convoluted reasoning to
disguise the reality. There is a good expression I heard somewhere which is:
‘simplify…simplify..!'.
People with strong partial intellects tend to fall into the trap of excessive sophistication easily.
There are immense subtleties at higher levels of spiritual development, but they cannot be
grasped by the partial intellect – don’t try to become stupid, but do try to use the intellect to
spot it owns limitations and to avoid its own tendency towards unnecessary complexity.
Once I was out walking in Harrow, in England, and stopped outside the famous public school.
There was an inscription in Latin, and I paused to see if I could understand its content despite
having ‘little Latin and less Greek’. After fifteen minutes I thought I had a good idea of the gist
of it. I walked on and came immediately to a newsagent’s shop. On the window was an advert
for a local newspaper – its headline read ‘local lads make good’ – I don’t think Johnson
himself could have summarised the content of the long Latin inscription any better.
The point is that the most powerful thoughts tend to be short and memorable. They won’t be
new to you but if you want to change your thought patterns pick one or two out and really digest
them mentally. Push them towards your heart. They can work wonders if you let them.
Here are a few to be going on with:
1. ‘God is Love and Love is God’ (Nawob Gudri Shah Baba)
2. ‘The Peace that passeth all understanding’. (Lord Jesus).
3. ‘Patience is the key to joy’ (Mevlana Rumi).
4. ‘Love is a fire, all that comes into it is destroyed’ : Kh. Muinuddin Hasan Chishti.
5. Say ‘Allah’ : the holy Qur’an.
6. ‘Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty’ : Keats.
7. ‘Come’ : Mevlana Rumi.
8. ‘Happiness comes from within’ : Dr Sharib.
9. ‘The best is yet to come..’ Dr Sharib.
• Another pitfall is to ignore detail, or to become excessive with regard to it. There is the
story of the discovery of the structure of the gene by Watson and Crick – I have told it before
but it demonstrates an important principle. Having creative minds Watson and Crick
developed a model of the gene but neglected to be accurate over a particular minute measure
– the model was disproved by a colleague who was particularly good with detail but who had
not the creative grasp to put all the details together so as to arrive at a true model. When they
combined forces the accurate model of the gene was found. To be able to simultaneously
combine in the mind differentiation and unification is the very definition of intelligence
according to Shah Wali Ullah of Delhi.
One technique I found helpful when I was developing a model for therapeutic treatment for
people with learning disability was to imagine a jury of people who represented all the possible
arguments against my ideas – I set myself the task of overcoming their arguments one by one
– modifying my ideas if necessary in order to overcome their objections when they seemed
valid. I had to be prepared to accept the possibility of failure as well as to hope for success. In
other words I had to – ‘to treat those two impostors both the same’ as Rudyard Kipling puts it.
The important thing was to arrive at something that had the flavour of truth about it.
The poem that Kipling wrote called ‘If’ is sometimes thought of as old fashioned but it does
address the issue of personality development in a rather pertinent way. I will reproduce it here:
‘If’
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch- and - toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
When all is said and done, however much we work on developing our garden we remain
dependent on the sun and fine weather to bring out its beauty. It is the same with our
personality – when the Divine Sun looks kindly on it, grey becomes sparkling shades of green,
the drooping flowers look up, open and smile a welcoming smile, fountains sparkle, dull grass
lawns become luxurious carpets of splendour, the bees become industrious in their daily tasks.
In short finally we become what we had hoped and worked for.
Mevlana Rumi tells a story in the Masnevi: some people after death were taken by angels to
the beautiful gardens of paradise – one of them says to the angels ‘it is said that no one can
come to paradise without passing hell but we did not see hell – what does this mean?'. The
angel replied, ‘that beautiful garden of green that we passed on our way, that was hell. Your
prayers and beautiful thoughts and patient suffering and efforts to purify yourselves turned it
into a verdant garden for you’.
May the New Year bring you an abundance of opportunity and the wisdom to benefit from it.
May you enjoy peace and prosperity within and without.
Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri
Southampton
December 30th 2005
We have reached the turning point of the calendar when the old year and its corruption is
slipping into its grave and the New Year is on the point of emerging untainted as yet. Let us
allow the old year to pass away with dignity and let us try to impress on the New Year our
hopes and aspirations.
Life is a continuous process of passing away and coming into existence. The things which
count from the past years are those things that in their very nature are permanent, which is to
say they have about them the flavour of divine Reality. Let us explore what those things are.
They are the things which constitute our inner garden. Our inner garden is a metaphor for our
personality.
When we decide to build an actual garden we recognise that the seasons will pass over it –
that at times it will appear wintry and desolate – at other times it will appear full of fresh
blossoms. We take this into account but we are really concerned year on year to establish the
different features of the garden, an ornamental pool, a pathway, borders, well laid out lawns
and so on. These features will remain relatively constant. It is just so in building our
personality.
In the garden we know that events will occur that will affect the appearance, but if the garden is
well founded and designed, and the soil well prepared; bulbs and seeds planted in a timely
fashion and so on, these things will pass, and at other favourable times we will be rewarded
with something beautiful; with sweet smelling flowers or luscious fruit. If we leave our garden
untended the times of bad weather will wreak disproportionate havoc and the times of
flowering and benign weather will bring little but a sporadic and incidental untrained growth.
Events in the New Year will bring their difficulties and their opportunities but if we have worked
conscientiously to prepare the garden of our personality the negative effects of events will be
minimised and then, when the sweet breath of the divine (the Nafas Ar-Rehman), blows our
way we will be able to draw from it the many benefits it can bring.
Thus it is our task to establish the features of our personality that have a lasting effect. The
specific nature of the things we do may vary according to our culture and beliefs. They include
regular prayer, constructive introspection, reading good books and keeping good company,
visits to places of holiness such as churches, synagogues, mosques or temples, or the shrines
or memorials to great saints, regularly counting our blessings, remembrance of God, charity of
heart and so on. If these and other such things are practised with sincerity and assiduously they
can have an immense impact on us in good times or bad.
The importance of the development of our personality is made clear by the words of Mevlana
Rumi, that great knower of spiritual mysteries, when he says, 'I have not seen in the world of
search and seeking any worthiness better than a good disposition'.
Often people think that personality is something we have, which we are powerless to alter. We
have inherited it. It is how we are. But though in truth it is the ‘Real Gardener’ that makes our
wilderness into a garden, we cannot shirk the responsibility of being receptive to His
promptings, which ever flow towards us at every moment. We can develop our personality with
effort, humility, sincerity and work.
There is some truth in the concept of personality as a given, but what I am suggesting to you
here is really part of a process of purification which enables the positive potential of that
personality to be realised – you may be surprised to find out who you really are.
One of the most important means by which we can develop ourselves is in learning the
technique of controlling our thoughts. Mevlana Rumi says:
'O! Brother, you are that same thought of yours; as for the rest you are only bone and fibre.
If your thought is a rose, you are a rose garden.'
People tend to assume that thoughts are just a natural flow of mental activity over which we
have little control, yet when people are in desperate straits with mental health problems such
as depression, one of the techniques that is most widely used nowadays is to train the person
to recognise and alter their thought patterns – there is a process called ‘cognitive therapy’
which is used for this purpose. But how much better if we do not wait until things have reached
such a pass, but practice the art of managing our thoughts and developing healthier patterns of
thinking even when our situation is much better. Sustained and regular practise is required.
Thoughts are also affected by other things such as breathing, the food we eat, and the
company we keep. These are not the specific topic in hand but the best general rule (practised
by Sufis throughout the ages) is - to eat less, talk less, and sleep less. Moderation is important
in all these things - excess even in things that are good for us can turn the good effects into bad
- it is a device our lower nature, beware of it.
First we have to learn to recognise our thoughts and feelings for what they are – to observe
them dispassionately, both at times when we are at rest and at times when we are occupied.
We will find some recognisable patterns – maybe we regularly try to protect ourselves from
disappointment by being pessimistic. Maybe we are unrealistic in our expectations, maybe we
are mentally lazy or transfer blame on to others rather than honestly acknowledging our own
faults. Maybe in order to protect ourselves from hurtful feelings we hurt others first; perhaps we
are negatively overcritical to ourselves and tending towards moroseness and isolation.
Perhaps we cover over our lack of confidence with bravado. The range of thought patterns are
immense and often become habitual with out our recognising it. Nowadays people try very
hard to improve people’s health by helping them overcome addictions to tobacco or drink or
drugs but they may neglect the harmful effects of our habits of thought in the wider context of
our personality.
Dr Sharib offers us the solution of using the ‘law of substitution’ this means that once we have
identified a negative thought we immediately seek for its opposite. Thus thoughts of hate
become replaced with thoughts of love, thoughts of greed with thoughts of generosity and so
on. This is a helpful practice.
We should not be overly analytical about the root causes of our thoughts. When we find a
negative pattern of thought let us concentrate on changing that pattern to a better one. Dr
Sharib has said – ‘I am not the least interested in what you are or what you were – but with
what you would like to become’.
We must become our own physician. Shakespeare said: ‘Canst thou minister to a mind
diseased………therein the patient must minister to himself’.
To find a better pattern of thought we should look to a model we can aspire to emulate. A
pious Muslim might take the model of the holy Prophet as an ideal and seek to emulate his
mode of behaviour personality traits such as trustworthiness. A Christian perhaps may take the
forgiving nature of Lord Jesus, or a Hindu the compassionate detachment of Lord Krishna and
so on. One who does not follow a religious path may look for some other model of greatness in
a Shakespeare, Johnson or Tolstoy etc.
The Sufis regard the holy Prophet as the exemplar of both religion and mysticism, and Hazrat
Ali as the gate way to inner knowledge. They may also take thought patterns of the other
companions and the great saints as a model too.
If your response to all this is to say ‘but I am far below such people’ that may be a humble
response, but you may still have their personality in mind as an inspiration and as an ideal.
Abraham Maslow, the humanist psychologist used to say to his students when confronted with
this objection to aspiring after emulating such models, that somebody must aspire to this .. ‘if
not you, then who..?’.
The point is we can work to change ourselves from within. The holy Qur’an tells us that God
does not change a people unless they change themselves.
There are some pitfalls, and as always I will say that the best way to avoid pitfalls is to put your
hand into the hand of a competent guide. Do not underestimate the seriousness of this remark!
If it was your body that required some repair or treatment you would put yourself in the hands of
a surgeon or doctor wouldn't you; or if you wanted to bring your body to height of perfection for
some sport you put yourself in the hands of a trainer; you probably even rely on an expert to
mend your car. How much more then should we seek the help we need when it comes to our
spiritual development. Hafiz says; 'Do not take one step on the path of Love without a true
guide'.
Here are one or two of the pitfalls to be avoided.
• Some people think that personality refers to the outward aspects of a person – their
dress and physical appearance. They may think that when I suggest taking great personalities
as exemplars I refer to these outward attributes, but a beard and an Arab head dress does not
make a man like the holy Prophet inside. This is a complete misunderstanding. Real
development of personality is not about creating an image to impress others but to develop
internally so as to be acceptable to the Divine.
• Some people make an effort to change some part of themselves but they guard that little
change so over zealously that they inhibit any further growth. It is as if they plant a seed in the
corner of the garden and then spend all their time building a wall around it - till the wall inhibits
the sunshine and the seed dies. Sometimes people who have changed their religious
convictions fall into this trap. People who find themselves in different culture can also encounter
this problem.
We must beware also of the tendency to twist truth to suit our lower nature. In his play 'Twelfth
Night' Shakespeare has a character called Sir Toby Belch, who though endearing in some
respects, excuses his drunkenness and debauchery with the expression - 'Ah well - its all one'.
True - but the underlying unity of being is not the same as a licence for licentiousness.
• Prejudice is like this too. A person identifies with the patterns of a particular racial or
religious or sectarian or class based mode of thought, or a right or left political bias. Thereafter
they protect this identification by clinging desperately to it and denying or repelling anything
other than it.
Our garden needs its walls as protection against the evils in life, but they must be at the
borders of the garden. Within it, must be accommodated a wide variety of flowers and trees
and shrubs and lawns and fountains. Today we live in a pluralistic society.
When I visit Konya I attend the Dergah (Sufi meeting place) of Nuri Baba Kuchukiplikchi which
is currently overseen by Hazrat Ali Baba. During other times of the year the order meets for the
practice of Zikr (remembrance of God by repeating his name) under strict conditions, with
ladies behind a curtain etc. During the Festival of Mevlana however they play host to a wide
range of guests, both men and women, from many nationalities and with many different
understandings of Sufism – who are permitted within boundaries, to express themselves
through ‘turning’ or singing or playing instruments or in other ways.
• Another pitfall is to become overly philosophical, developing convoluted reasoning to
disguise the reality. There is a good expression I heard somewhere which is:
‘simplify…simplify..!'.
People with strong partial intellects tend to fall into the trap of excessive sophistication easily.
There are immense subtleties at higher levels of spiritual development, but they cannot be
grasped by the partial intellect – don’t try to become stupid, but do try to use the intellect to
spot it owns limitations and to avoid its own tendency towards unnecessary complexity.
Once I was out walking in Harrow, in England, and stopped outside the famous public school.
There was an inscription in Latin, and I paused to see if I could understand its content despite
having ‘little Latin and less Greek’. After fifteen minutes I thought I had a good idea of the gist
of it. I walked on and came immediately to a newsagent’s shop. On the window was an advert
for a local newspaper – its headline read ‘local lads make good’ – I don’t think Johnson
himself could have summarised the content of the long Latin inscription any better.
The point is that the most powerful thoughts tend to be short and memorable. They won’t be
new to you but if you want to change your thought patterns pick one or two out and really digest
them mentally. Push them towards your heart. They can work wonders if you let them.
Here are a few to be going on with:
1. ‘God is Love and Love is God’ (Nawob Gudri Shah Baba)
2. ‘The Peace that passeth all understanding’. (Lord Jesus).
3. ‘Patience is the key to joy’ (Mevlana Rumi).
4. ‘Love is a fire, all that comes into it is destroyed’ : Kh. Muinuddin Hasan Chishti.
5. Say ‘Allah’ : the holy Qur’an.
6. ‘Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty’ : Keats.
7. ‘Come’ : Mevlana Rumi.
8. ‘Happiness comes from within’ : Dr Sharib.
9. ‘The best is yet to come..’ Dr Sharib.
• Another pitfall is to ignore detail, or to become excessive with regard to it. There is the
story of the discovery of the structure of the gene by Watson and Crick – I have told it before
but it demonstrates an important principle. Having creative minds Watson and Crick
developed a model of the gene but neglected to be accurate over a particular minute measure
– the model was disproved by a colleague who was particularly good with detail but who had
not the creative grasp to put all the details together so as to arrive at a true model. When they
combined forces the accurate model of the gene was found. To be able to simultaneously
combine in the mind differentiation and unification is the very definition of intelligence
according to Shah Wali Ullah of Delhi.
One technique I found helpful when I was developing a model for therapeutic treatment for
people with learning disability was to imagine a jury of people who represented all the possible
arguments against my ideas – I set myself the task of overcoming their arguments one by one
– modifying my ideas if necessary in order to overcome their objections when they seemed
valid. I had to be prepared to accept the possibility of failure as well as to hope for success. In
other words I had to – ‘to treat those two impostors both the same’ as Rudyard Kipling puts it.
The important thing was to arrive at something that had the flavour of truth about it.
The poem that Kipling wrote called ‘If’ is sometimes thought of as old fashioned but it does
address the issue of personality development in a rather pertinent way. I will reproduce it here:
‘If’
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch- and - toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
When all is said and done, however much we work on developing our garden we remain
dependent on the sun and fine weather to bring out its beauty. It is the same with our
personality – when the Divine Sun looks kindly on it, grey becomes sparkling shades of green,
the drooping flowers look up, open and smile a welcoming smile, fountains sparkle, dull grass
lawns become luxurious carpets of splendour, the bees become industrious in their daily tasks.
In short finally we become what we had hoped and worked for.
Mevlana Rumi tells a story in the Masnevi: some people after death were taken by angels to
the beautiful gardens of paradise – one of them says to the angels ‘it is said that no one can
come to paradise without passing hell but we did not see hell – what does this mean?'. The
angel replied, ‘that beautiful garden of green that we passed on our way, that was hell. Your
prayers and beautiful thoughts and patient suffering and efforts to purify yourselves turned it
into a verdant garden for you’.
May the New Year bring you an abundance of opportunity and the wisdom to benefit from it.
May you enjoy peace and prosperity within and without.
Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri
Southampton
December 30th 2005
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