17 - THIRD VOLUME, SEVENTH LETTER

This letter was written for Sayyid Mir Muhibbullah Manqpûrî. It counsels to put up with annoyances comming from other people:

May hamd (praise and gratitude) be to Allâhu ta’âlâ and salât (prayers, benedictions) over His beloved Prophet. I invoke a blessing over you and over all Muslims. The honourable letter from my brother Sayyid Mir Muhibbullah arrived here yesterday. It made us very happy. Annoyances caused by people should be put up with. There is nothing to do but being patient about the hurts caused by one’s kinsfolk. Allâhu ta’âlâ revealed an âyat-i-kerîma, which is within the Ahkâf Sûra and which purports His command to His beloved Prophet ‘’alaihi wa ’alâ âlihi-s-salât-u-wa-s-salâm’, as follows: “As the Ulul’azm ones of the (past) Prophets were patient, you, too, be patient! Do not make haste in invoking a malediction over them for a visitation of torment on them!” What people being there would reap the most benefit from is their being annoyed and bothered by people around them. You disrelish this blessing and run away from it. Yes. A person who is used to always eating sweet things will shy away from bitter but curative medicine. A am at a loss as to what to say about this. A Persian couplet translated into English:

Once in love, a coquette has no remedy,
But patience with someone else’s coquetry!

You ask for permission to move to the place called Ilâh-âbâd. And you add, “Or, please suggest another place where I can go, so that I may rid myself of the relentless persecutions I have been suffering.” Rukhsat (permission) is possible. However, ’azîmat, a better way, is to stay where you are and patiently put up with the inconveniences. As you know, we are in a season when I feel weak and exhausted.[1] So I have had to write briefly. I extend my salâm.

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[1] Imâm Rabbânî Mujaddid-i-elf-i-thânî Ahmad Fârûqî Serhendî ‘rahmatullahi ta’âlâ ’alaih’ suffered from asthma. So, attacks of difficult breathing, wheezing, and coughing, accompanied by a feeling of suffocation, would go on a rampage throughout winter seasons.

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