Is there any wealth that will remain eternally?
Is there any wealth that benefits you in the hereafter?
Therefore, when the time comes to be tested then be prepared to sacrifice absolutely anything to safeguard the Zikr e Qalb you have been granted.
That would be the intelligent thing to do.
Why is a Zakir e Qalbi Tested?
'O God, bestow your blessings upon Muhammad (s) and his progeny,
instil forbearance in us, keep us steadfast
and expand the frequency of your benevolence upon us
and grant us to express our gratitude for this'.
'My companions! Observe patience!'.
'As the world is a composite of all crises and calamities'.
Now, it is of utmost importance to understand this point.
People take the Activation of the Heart and their hearts are activated, then the mundane problems that we face in our lives...
such people pester us for solutions to their everyday issues; they forcefully bring their woes to our knowledge.
'I have an earache'. 'I have leg pain'.
'My niece is poorly'. 'My grandmother is unwell'.
This is all a waste of time.
When God's name enters your heart you must be prepared to be tested by God.
And you must observe patience.
'God is with those who are patient'.
In another place, God has also instructed you to seek help 'bissabri wassalah (with patience and prayer)'.
Now, people abuse the use of WhatsApp over the smallest things.
What I am trying to say is...
I would like you to try to understand this
that God has attached pain and calamities with his love.
Everybody wants to become a Fakir; 'we want to witness the divine splendour', 'take us to the Court of the Prophet (s)'.
But the moment they are slightly inconvenienced... they suddenly require a needle and thread for their backdoor.
You are talking about witnessing the divine splendour and attending the Court of the Prophet (s)...
The Holy Qur'an says about the common believers (Momineen), 'do they expect their claim of having Imaan to go untested?'
Of course, you will be tested.
The Qur'an states that [God] shall test you with five things.
When your heart was activated with God's name, you were very happy about it
but then when you faced the smallest inconvenience, you abused the use of WhatsApp.
'Ever since I have taken zikr, I have had so-and-so pain'.
They actually reference [zikr].
'Ever since I took zikr, I have started facing problems'.
'Ever since I took zikr, I have been unwell'.
'Ever since I took zikr, my business profits are low'.
This is underlying that they are rebuking zikr.
'This is all because of Zikr Allah'.
'Otherwise, I was perfectly fine before it'.
Watch your words. You are rejecting God.
How are you any different from the hypocrites and disbelievers?
So you must understand today that the path you have embarked upon,
the path of Spirituality,
the path of divine love,
the path of purification, purgation of the lower self and the path of demolishing
and the path of expelling all desires from the heart.
When are tested on this path, you must become a paragon of patience and gratitude
and you must not abuse the use of WhatsApp.
My brothers, you must try to understand this path.
This path is riddled with divine tests.
And you are tested because [God] wants to ensure your steadfastness and bravery in the face of calamities.
God wants to confirm you shall not shun his love
God sent a calamity upon you but you remained steadfast in God's love, you were not phased by the losses nor the problems.
You exhibited gallantry, courage and patience.
You extended your gratitude to God for granting you patience during the test.
Do not cry over little things. This is against Spirituality...
for you to pick up the phone and call to complain about every minor inconvenience.
You're just forcing one to regret ever granting you zikr.
Don't do such things.
If a calamity befalls you, be patient with t.
'Inallaha maa sabireen'.
'God is with those who are patient'.
Of course, if there is an insurmountable problem, you should share it with me
and once I have been made aware, do not speak of it again. If the big problem you are facing is not a test from God...
then within three days, it shall be resolved.
However, once you have shared your problem with me and the matter is not resolved even after three days,
then it is a test.
And God shall test you no matter what.
If you're afraid of being tested then you're better off in the mosque instead of pursuing a connection with God.
Now, there were some hypocrites at the time of Prophet Muhammad (s). This is from the month of Ramadan.
When those hypocrites fasted, they became quite ill and complained,
'O Messenger of God, look at us! We fast all day for the sake of God
and we fall ill. Our prayers for healing go unanswered by God although he is the one for whom we fast'.
And God revealed a verse [unto the Prophet (s)].
God declared, 'If you practise purgation of your lower self, you are doing this for your own benefit'.
'You are certainly not doing God a favour'.
So, you must always remember these two words - write them down:
'sabr' (patience)
and 'shukr (gratitude)'.
I have observed people who throw in the towel as soon as they face calamities, they say, 'Take away this problem, my faith hangs in the balance!'
They make such threats.
You are the one who is supposed to be mindful about your faith.
The faith in your heart does not belong to me.
So how can you threaten me?
'I am in danger of losing my faith!'
If you believe there is any calamity strong enough to destroy you faith, you are not eligible for this path.
God likes brave people.
Those who have the courage to face anything for God's sake.
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Ghaus e Azam stated, 'There is no blessing unaccompanied by calamity'.
Zikr e Qalb is also a divine blessing
and it must also be accompanied by calamity.
Wherever God has made mention of Zikr e Qalb in the Qur'an, it is always followed by a verse about calamities.
'Wa min yomin billahi yahdi qalbahu'
Those whom God chooses, he grants guidance to their hearts.
'Ma...'
'No calamity strikes without the [activation of the heart with] God's name'.
And this calamity comes in many forms.
'No calamity strikes without God's name'.
'Ma...'
'No calamity strikes without God's name'
'Wa min...'
'And when God chooses someone to become a Momin, God will grant guidance to their heart'.
Once the spiritual heart has been granted guidance, you shall also face calamities along with God's name.
You enjoy listening to your heart echoing with God's name after taking zikr.
But what will happen is that God shall bestow this blessing of Zikr e Qalb upon you, and then snatch it away.
Why will he snatch it?
In order to determine how much you value this divine blessing
and how much you are willing to sacrifice for it.
We wants to conduct an assessment of value.
How much do you value the bounty of God that has been conferred upon you?
God wants to see whether or not you remain silently patient when he tests you with a calamity to see if you care to maintain the zikr of your heart.
'Sabr' means to endure the calamity in complete silence
If you let slip a complaint then you have failed the test of patience.
But we have no control over our tongues, do we?
His Divine Eminence taught me something...
In 1994, we were on a tour of Europe with His Divine Eminence.
At that particular time, we were with His Divine Eminence in Brussells,
His Divine Eminence asked me to bring some tea, so I went to a Pakistani restaurant.
His Divine Eminence was sipping on the tea in the car while we were standing outside
when Sarkar asked me, 'How much money did you have in your pocket when you came to Belgium from England?'
I said, 'Master, I had £20 on me'.
And His Divine Eminence smiled broadly, you know that special laugh that shakes Their whole body...
If you see HDE Gohar Shahi smiling like that, there’s an instant influx of blood flow in your body which [probably] increases your blood by 1-2kg.
Right?
You feel immense spiritual elation.
And then His Divine Eminence uttered a sentence which was quite...
unexpected for me.
His Divine Eminence said, 'It's a good thing you're broke'.
His Divine Eminence said, 'It's good that you're broke, that you don't have money'.
I asked, 'Master, will I always be in such a state?'
And I asked, 'Master, why is being hand-to-mouth good for me?'
His Divine Eminence said, 'God will not test you if you have nothing to be tested with'.
'So that's a good thing, isn't it?'
When you have nothing in your possession, how can God ask you to sacrifice your wealth?
I was so pleased to hear this.
So those who have wealth -
His Divine Eminence explained that God does not grant wealth without its love.
It would be a divine blessing upon you should God grant you wealth without its love.
So, His Divine Eminence said, 'It's good that you are broke because when God grants wealth, its love comes along with it'.
Furthermore, when rich folk spend their wealth on this path of God, their offering is only accepted by God if their hearts are content with this.
But God does not accept an offering made on this path if their hearts were burdened by it.
Their offering is wasted.
So, if you have been granted Zikr e Qalb and then you start facing problems, do not develop hatred for the problems
you must instead observe patience in the face of calamity and express gratitude for the grand benevolence bestowed upon you.
You must forbear the calamities with patience and gratitude.
If you want to clear this path of all the obstacles and your heart to gallop toward God,
then you must observe patience in the face of any calamity, any hardship.
And have faith in the Lord, trust the Lord.
Do not put your hands up when you face calamities.
Do not give up. No.
Whenever God bestowed upon you his blessings, he also sends calamities upon you to see how much you value it.
Is it necessary to explain what 'value' means here?
The value of something is related to one's need and love for it.
The value of something in this world does not depend on how much it costs to create it.
It depends on its demand in the market.
That is what determines its value.
For instance, the iPhone.
If the iPhone is too expensive for someone, they would buy an Android.
If an Android phone is still too dear, they would get the Oppo...or Toppo, Coppo, whatever.
It is all based on necessity.
But food has no brand and everyone has to eat that's why it has the most value.
Now, God grants you with health, wealth, a business, a family
and then you are granted Zikr e Qalb, now you need to ascertain which of these things will stay with you eternally and which shall perish.
Health? Perishable.
You live in this world for a short period of time and then you die.
These blood relations - mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter - they also remain in this world.
The problems we face and the comforts we seek -
The biggest issue with people is that they do not want to come out of their comfort zones.
So they bargain for the sake of their comforts.
Don't think these comforts will remain forever.
If your car is your only mode of transportation, then I encourage you to do this experiment: park your car at home and pretend you have nothing.
Use public transport for one whole day so that you value your car.
This is not a joke.
Park your car at home one day and pretend that your car has been stolen.
Pretend your wife hasn't cooked for you... in fact, pretend she's dead.
You're only pretending!
Don't you want to be happy for a few moments?
All of these things are mortal, perishable.
Whereas, Zikr e Qalb will be with you eternally.
Don't forget, God will question you, 'Yawma laa yanfa'u maalunw wa laa banoon'
'Illaa man atal laaha biqalbin saleem'
'Neither your wealth nor your sons will benefit you on the Day of Judgment, successful will be the one who brings forth a Qalb e Saleem'.
So now, you decide the outcome of your test.
On one hand, you have wealth, health, life and family
and on the other hand,
you have faith, the wealth of Zikr e Qalb
Is there any wealth that will remain eternally?
Is there any wealth that benefits you in the hereafter?
Yes, Zikr e Qalb.
Therefore, when the time comes to be tested then be prepared to sacrifice absolutely anything to safeguard the Zikr e Qalb you have been granted.
That would be the intelligent thing to do.
You would be sacrificing the mortal for the immortal.
You would be the ultimate fool to sacrifice the immortal for the mortal.
Any sacrifice this one thing demands from you would be a bargain.
Absolutely no one can aid you [on the Day of Judgment]; it is every man for himself.
Prophet Muhammad (s) said, 'God does not send his wrath on his beloved people but he does test them'.
And, 'A Momin remains steadfast under calamity because he believes that the Lord had his reasons to test him
which are revealed to him later on, and so a Momin observes patience and remains steadfast'.
Any calamity that falls upon you... it has already fallen upon you, now do not complain.
Do not grumble. You must endure it silently and with patience.
Believe that you are a Momin and God will not send his wrath on you; you are being tested.
Prophet Muhammad (s) said, 'God does not send his wrath on his beloved people but he does test them'.
If your heart has been activated and you have become a Momin, remember that you will not face any real calamities; you will only be tested.
Therefore, you must observe patience and gratitude during the hardship.
Patience and gratitude.