Peace, one and all…
I recently found myself watching the Catholic TV channel, EWTN, and as Allah willed, I tuned in to a discussion of the book of Ephesians. In particular, the presenter (an elderly priest) was discussing Ephesians 4:22-25:
‘Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness’.
This passage hit me like a thunderbolt, as if it were speaking directly to me, as though were in all truth the very voice of God moving in the deep waters of my soul. ‘I hear and obey’ is the only possible response in such situations, ‘Here I am at Your service’ (labbayk Allahumma labbayk).
A number of sayings of Imam Ali (may God ennoble his countenance) that I had then been reading feel relevant, and hence I wanted to share them here. The Imam is reported to have said:
‘He who is lowly in poverty is great in God’s sight’
And again:
‘He who is without knowledge [literally adab] is without merit’
And finally:
‘With sincerity, a man can reach the stations of the great’
May God always open me, and may all who pass by be blessed.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
