THE STORY OF HAZRAT ZUN NOON MISRY (R.A.)
“Free from the sorrows of both worlds will you be quickly,
If one atom of sorrow from Allah’s love touches you.” (Akhtar)
The heart, which up to now had only been aware of the transitory worldly pleasures and which only reached up to this transitory world, now through the blessings of true Divine Love has flown up to the heavens and up to the Throne of Allah.
The true devotee of Allah, through the blessings of the special perception of communion with Allah, experiences within himself a wonderful feeling of contact with the hereafter and thus through this perception has only a nominal contact with this worldly existence. His major perception is the contact with the hereafter. My beloved Sheikh Hazrat Phulpuri (RA.) used to explain his condition to his Sheikh Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwy (RA.) thus:
“Hazrat, it is as if I feel that I am not walking upon the ground of this world, but upon the floor of the hereafter. Being busy with worldly things does not prevent me from keeping the hereafter, before me.”
In reality this is what actually happens when the heart develops a strong bond with Allah. Sometimes it also happens that for the special devotees of Allah, special favours are sent from the unseen world. The moments of these special favours are such that words cannot describe them. Only the soul of the person, on whom those special favours descend, can know them and enjoy the pleasures thereof.
Through the Divine Love, a strange condition came over Hazrat Zun Noon Misry (RA.). Hazrat Rumi (RA.) says that he was overtaken by such a feeling of madness and confusion that his sighs and utterances caused people to become greatly affected by it. It seemed that Divine Love brought nothing but crying and sorrow and as if there was nothing good in it.
“Through crying and lamenting, the way towards Allah is easily traversed, And so nearness is attained which is not reached through years of striving through spiritual exercises.”
The overwhelming nature of his love was such that from the sighs and cries that he uttered people became helpless. Hence a group of irreligious people had him imprisoned in jail. When they took him to jail, he went willingly and happily. Some of his closest friends accompanied him in sympathy. When they locked the door behind him, the friends began to wonder: “What has happened? Such a great Sheikh has been imprisoned.”
It seemed as if the Sheikh himself was hiding the inner condition under a cloud of madness. It may be that in order to avoid the vileness of people, he preferred himself going to. jai1. Possibly it may be that he had become fed up with the company of rational beings and presented himself as a mad one.
Hence, all those friends who visited him in the jail, said to him:
“Respected Sir, we all are your sincere friends and companions. We have come here to inquire about your health and condition. We are surprised and astounded as to who could have laid a charge of insanity against you. We look upon you as the very embodiment of sanity. These people who only look at the external appearances are completely unacquainted with your high position and rank of the nearness to Allah. They regard you as being insane, while we know that you are a True Lover of God. We are your sincere friends and lovers. We look upon. you as our beloved one in both the worlds. Please inform us the reason why you prefer to waste your time in this prison. Please do not keep the secret from us. ”
Sheikh Zun Noon (R.A.) listened to their words and was not convinced by their sincerity. Hence to test their sincerity he picked up some stones and moved towards them. Like a mad man he ran in their direction as if he, was going to stone them. When they saw this they all fled, fearing of being hurt by the stones. Seeing this the Sheikh laughed at their claim of love and sincere friendship and exclaimed:
“Have a look at these friends of the dervish; 0 You ignorant ones. What do you know of love and true friendship? ”
“When does a friend keep himself aloof from the sorrow’s of a friend?
The friendship of a friend is like a skin around him and he will bear all sorrows from his friend.
A friend is like gold and calamities and misfortunes are like fire.
And pure gold shines even brighter when the heat of fire touches it. ”
Maulana Rumi (R.A.) says:’
“0 You, when with one wound you retired from your love,
Choosing the way of those who flee.
It is clear you have not yet been touched by love,
And only mention it.”
In other words, the path of true love is not an easy one to tread. You will have to shed blood from your heart and your liver. Then the path will open up to you.
Hence, one should tread the path of Allah in a manly way. A modern day saintly man – Babu Saheb, who was also a Khalifa of Maulana Thanwy (R.A.) said: “Accept and then resolve. In other words – first, make a strong contact of love with Allah and then resolve to bear all the trials that will come your way while on that path”. For the sake of worldly business and employment a person will bear all kinds of calamities. But this is an affair of the hereafter, for which a person should be prepared to bear even greater burdens.
