The Divine Creation
The Divine Creation
“Read this.”
I put down my cup of tea and took the phone from Hussain’s hand. I thumbed up and down the screen to find a long scroll.
“What is it?”
“Just read.”
Hussain is the person I feel closest to in the world. It is hard to overstate the impact he has had on my life. We live in different cities and only speak about once a month, but there is no one I trust more to give me the right advice. If I’m somewhat more spiritually inclined today it is because of him.
Five years ago, I remember sitting in his office in an old antiquated building in Lahore. I was struggling to find my way. “I see you as a writer,” he told me.
“What? No!” I snapped. It was my hedge fund persona that felt under attack. But it was also because I knew Hussain had a gift of writing and there’s no way I could be as good as him.
Even today, I feel like I just copy paste ideas rather than share anything that is truly original. My battle with resistance is real. But I’m not willing to give up the fight.
“Is there more tea?”
As I read the first sentence off the phone, I realized this is Hussain’s writing and got excited. It was a long time since I read anything from him…
Meeting the saint, I asked my question and he gave me a serious look, I must say I was rendered thoughtless for a moment, as though there was an earthquake and the ground beneath my feet shook.
He then looked at me and said, “There was a time when the heart, soul, and spirit lived independently from one another… it was a time of separation and freedom, and there was none to stifle or smother. They were all God’s favorites, each enjoying its own rank. They knew they were the favorites, so they became boastful, proud and frank.
The spirit was close to God, but the soul was closer still, and although the heart was in a state of union, there existed a longing, a feeling of incompleteness in them all, that only God could fill.
One day an argument broke as to who is God’s favorite. The parties became violent as the argument got heated. God was approached and requested to mediate to which He agreed, and said that He would reveal the truth unto all of them naturally, so no one feels cheated. He then said He would create man and thus ordered the angels to bring clay from the earth. He said everyone has transgressed to a point where they all need to know their place before me and their worth.
So, the angels took the heart and bound it to the soul, then they took the soul and sunk it into the spirit’s chest. Then the angels put the heart, soul and spirit into man, and God then raised man to a supreme rank, stating that this creation was his best. He then ordered the angels to put man on earth, as it is humble and has the power to reveal things worth.
Since the heart knows only union, it is the union that it seeks, and since the soil and spirit only know closeness and proximity, it is the only language they speak. And since man is from earth it is this world that he desires, its bones and flesh with the help of the mind have to fuel it’s earthly fires.
So you see, my son, everything revealed to itself, what it knew best. Do not for a second think that what you think or feel is trivial or is thought and felt in jest. The body and mind are natives of this world and they will always sing its praise, but the heart, soul and spirit are alien to this place and do not understand its customs, norms, and ways.
The heart, soul, and spirit were favorites of God and thus have been spoiled with His love and attention, while the body and mind are unfamiliar with these emotions; to them these feelings are a strange dimension. If you have it in you to seek God then listen to your heart, but if you want to seek the world instead, then it is the mind where you start.”