Enlightening The Path, Stories to guide your life (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Since four decades I have been sending Eid cards once a year to all my friends in many countries. First, these were just simple commercial cards with the words Eid Mubarak printed on them. Then it occurred to me why not to send some good quotation along with the card so that the card could have some message. Then one day, as l was reading a Sufi book containing moral stories l thought why not to send these stories on my Eid cards! When l talked about it with my friends, at first they didn't like the idea. “How can you write stories on Eid cards?" l was told. But something inside me told me that if l could give my friends some ethical message with moral value and instill in them faith in God and even one from five hundred could get the message right and act on it, my purpose would be served. So l took courage and wrote the first story. It at once caught the attention and the idea was appreciated. Many liked the stories and their moral so much that they started collecting them. It renewed their faith in God and they often felt relieved during times of stress. Slowly and gradually as l persisted in sending these on succeeding Eids, the stories took the grip and my friends began to enjoy them and draw morals. More feedback came in. One friend told me, "When l receive your Eid cards I collect all my children and other family members and make them read the story and its moral. It teaches them how to live in this world." Another friend told me “Every time I receive your Eid card l always put it in my file. Sometimes when I am depressed or under strain l open the file and read your stories. I get lot of solace from them" In one of my stories, l had related how famous Hakim al-Razi while treating the Sultan used different tactics to cure him. Soon after, I met a friend who told me “A man used to come to me whom l requested many times to do my work but he would not, after l read your Eid story about al-Razi l changed my tactics. The very next day my work was done. Thanks for the story. Stories have the power of creating impression on mind. Everyone loves stories whether young or old. Story telling is the favored method of imparting spiritual wisdom by the Sufis. Giving knowledge strikes the mind but when carried in a tale it directly strikes the heart. Stories which teach us moral ethics and faith in God are all Sufi stories, be they from Readers Digest or lives of great men, from east or from west. In this book, l have collected thirty stories, some from different books, some l heard in my childhood and some from my father who had a knack of teaching through stories and verses from Sufi Saints. They had to be summarized so as to be appropriate for an Eid card and also given a moral. Wherever possible l have given the source but l may be pardoned if l have missed any. The oral tradition doesn't have an Origin. A right story at the right time can unlock the inner faith and renew it. I therefore suggest that the reader should read only one story daily and absorb the truth. Thus he will complete the cycle in one month. I hope that these stones will enlighten our paths and guide our lives in this world so that when the time comes for us to leave, we leave with a smile on our face and the satisfaction that we fulfilled our responsibilities for the here and the hereafter. Dr. G. Hyder Alidina