The Story of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi and the Gifted Thieves
The Story of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi and the Gifted Thieves
(Rahmatullah Alaihe)
One night Sultan Mahmood went walking among his
subjects after taking off his royal clothes and putting on
ordinary clothes. He came upon a group of thieves who
were consulting amongst themselves. On seeing him, they
asked him, “Who are you?” The king (Sultan) replied: “I am also
one like yourselves”. They understood that to mean that he was
also a thief like themselves and allowed him to join their
company. They, then, continued the conversation amongst
themselves. It was decided that each one of them would explain
his specialty/skill that he possessed so that at the time of need,
a task could be put before accordingly.
One of the thieves said:
“Friends, I have a special gift in my ears, that whenever a dog
barks, I fully understand what he says.”
The second one said:
“I have a special gift in my eyes, that whatever I see in the
darkness of night, I am able to recognize it in the light of day.”
The third one said:
“I have this specialty in my arms that through the strength that
lies in my arms, I can make a hole in the strongest wall, to enter
a house.”
The fourth one said:
“I have a special gift in my nose that by smelling the sand on
the ground I am able to ascertain whether there is any treasure
buried underneath it or not.” It is just like in the case of
Majnoon, who without being told, merely by smelling the
ground, got to know where Layla was buried.
The fifth one said:
“I have such strength in my hands that no matter how high a
building is, I can climb along its walls with my rope ladder and
easily enter into it.”
Thereafter they all asked the king, “O Man, what special gift do
you possess which we can make use of in our thieving
activities?” The king replied,
“I have this specialty in my beard that when criminals are
handed over to their executioner, I merely shake my beard and
they are immediately set free”.
In other words, if as a show of mercy I shake my beard, the
criminals found guilty of murder, are set free. On hearing this,
the thieves said:
“O you are our leader, on the day of difficulty; you will be our
only means of salvation.”
In other words, if we are arrested, then through your blessings
we will be saved. Now we do not have to fear, because the rest
of us had the special gifts that would help us in our thieving
exploits, but none of us had the means of granting safety from
punishment. This specialty lies only with you. Now we need
not have any fear of punishment. Now we can get on with our
work.
They all went in the direction of the palace of Shah
Mahmood with the king in their midst. Along the way, a dog
barked and the one who understood the dog’s language
translated: “The king is also in your midst”. Although they
heard it, no one paid any attention to this information, as their
greed was uppermost in their minds. One of them smelled the
ground and explained that this is the Royal Palace. There is a
treasure in this place. The other one threw a rope ladder against
the wall. The other one made a hole in the wall and they all
entered to rob. Afterwards, they divided the loot amongst
themselves and hastily each one of them went to hide his share
of the spoils. The king noted each one’s description and found
out where each of them resided. He left them and secretly reentered
the Royal Palace.
The following day the king related the entire story to his
courtiers. Thereafter he sent the policemen to arrest them and to
inform them of their death sentence. When they were brought
before the court with hands bound together, they were all
trembling in fear before the king’s throne. However, the thief
who had this special gift of recognizing anybody during the
day whom he had seen during the darkness, was quite at ease.
In him, together with the signs of fear there were also signs of
hope. In other words, although he was struck by awe while
standing before the king and although fearing the king’s wrath
and revenge, he also had the hope, that the king would be true
to his word, that when in mercy he shakes his beard, criminals
will be set free. Furthermore, he also had the hope of setting
free all his companions because the king will surely not turn
away from all those whom he knew and recognized.
This person’s face was changing from yellow to red, as
within himself the feelings of fear and hope alternated. Sultan
Mahmood, in kingly dignity, passed judgment that they all
should be handed over to the executioner to be hung on the
gallows. As the king himself was witness to their crime, there
was no need for any other witnesses. As soon as the king
announced his judgment, this person appealed in great
humility: “Sire, with your permission, may I say something?”
The king permitted him to speak and he said, “O Master, each
one of us had exhibited his special gift which helped in this
crime. Now, it is time that the kingly specialty should be
exhibited according to the promise. I have all the while
recognized you. Remember you promised that in your beard
there is this specialty, that if you cause it to move in mercy, the
criminal will be saved from punishment. Hence, O king, shake
your beard, so that through the blessings of your grace, all of us
may be saved from punishment. Our specialties have brought
us to the gallows. Now it is only your special gift that is left
which can save us from being punished. Now is the time for the
exhibition of your specialty. Kindly shake your beard. Because
of fear, our lives have reached right up to our mouths. Please
save us by the special gift that lies in your beard. ”
Sultan Mahmood smiled at the plea and became filled with
mercy and grace as he heard this pitiful admission of guilt. He
said, “Each one of you have exhibited his special quality to such
an extent that it has brought you to the brim of destruction,
except in the case of this one. He recognized me as the Sultan.
He saw me in the darkness of the night and recognized me as
the Sultan. Hence, for his having recognized me, I set all of you
free. I feel ashamed at those eyes which recognized me not to
shake my beard and thereby exhibit my special quality”.
Lesson
- 1. When a person is committing a sin, the True King of
kings is with him, and is fully aware of all that he does.
“And He is with you wherever you are.” (Qur’an)
When a person commits any disobedience to Allah Ta’ala, he is
actually committing treachery against Him. Anyone who fails
in his duty to Allah Ta’ala or in the rights that are due to men is
like a thief committing theft of Allah Ta’ala’s treasures. For this
reason, one should always bear in mind that the Master is the
witness, watching all time, and is aware of all that we do. If we
commit any disobedience or inequity, it means that in His very
presence, His treasury is being looted and robbed.
Think for a moment! Whom are you robbing? That King
and Master tells you “I am watching what you do. I am with
you. My laws have been revealed to you. Today you are
breaking that law. Today, in this world I will hide your fault,
hoping that perhaps you will come upon the right path. But if
you do not come to your senses, then tomorrow on the Day of
Judgment when you will be brought before Me, with hands
bound together, then who will be able to save you from My
anger and revenge?”
- Allah Ta’ala will punish sinners in the Hereafter, although,
He may overlook them in this world. We see that at the time
the thieves were looting the Royal treasury, the Sultan
witnessed the entire incident. He was with them and
allowed them to proceed without punishing them.
However, in the end, he had them arrested. If, at all times,
this thought is uppermost in our minds that Allah Ta’ala
sees all our deeds, then, there will surely be fear in the heart
when committing sins.
On the Day of Judgment, no special quality will be of any
benefit. All those deeds which contravene the laws of Allah
Ta’ala will on the Day of Judgment be bound around man’s
neck; even though, in this world, they were considered as
special qualities. The thieves mentioned those special gifts and
qualities as if they were qualities of virtue, but in reality, those
very qualities were the cause of their destruction:
“Each one of them exhibited their special quality,
But all their qualities only caused their misfortune to
increase”.
- Any special quality that does not bring a person closer to
his Creator, does not connect the heart with Allah Ta’ala,
and which is not a medium towards the remembrance of
Allah Ta’ala is no quality of virtue. In fact, it is a curse and a
misfortune. All the powers and attributes of man that are
used in rebellion against Allah Ta’ala and towards
disobedience and negligence, will one day cause him to be
brought before Allah Ta’ala as a criminal.
All those nations that have made great progress and
through scientific inventions have made this world
subservient to them, but turn away from Allah Ta’ala,
passing their lives in disobedience, will realize on the Day
of Judgment, whether that specialty of scientific progress
had been the cause of receiving Allah Ta’ala’s grace or His
anger.
“Blessed be to you the subjugation of the sun and moon, But if
there is no light in the heart there is no light anywhere”
- No special quality will be of benefit except that which
allows one to recognize Allah Ta’ala. Just like the person
who having seen the Sultan, recognized him and through
this special quality, he not only saved himself but was also
able to intercede on behalf of his companions. As for his
other companions, their special quality became a means of
their destruction.
“Only the sight of the fortunate one was of any use who
recognized the Sultan during the darkness of night.”
The lesson derived is that this world is like a place of
darkness. In the darkness of this world, every servant of Allah
Ta’ala who follows the Divine Laws of Shari‘at and through its
blessings recognizes Allah Ta’ala, will be provided with
salvation against the punishment of hell-fire on the Day of
Judgment. This recognition will also be a means towards
intercession on behalf of other criminals from among the
sinners of the people of faith. However, there should not be any
pride and over confidence in this recognition. In fact, one
should alternate between fear and hope and in utmost humility
beg for this intercession. Then Allah Ta’ala will accept this
intercession from whomsoever He wishes according to His
Mercy. For those whom He will not accept this intercession, He
will in perfect justice exhibit His overwhelming vengeance.
Hence, fortunate indeed is the person who, in this
world, created within himself the knowledge of recognizing
Allah Ta’ala. The Aarifeen (those who have recognized Allah
Ta’ala) who through their spiritual efforts and exercises
recognize Allah Ta’ala with their souls, will tomorrow on the
Day of Judgment see Allah Ta’ala and attain salvation.
Furthermore, their intercession on behalf of other sinners will
also be accepted. However, the disbelievers and criminals will
through their special qualities be admitted into hell-fire. On
that Day these poor starving ones (pious ones) with pale faces,
patched and coarse clothing, who today are being ridiculed and
jeered at, will feast their eyes upon the countenance of Allah
Ta’ala. On that Day, the criminals will envy them:
“Would that we had lived like them in the world and acquired
their qualities. Would that we had recognized Allah Ta’ala
properly!”
- This story also illustrates the high position these righteous
and saintly ones have as far as their humanity is concerned.
What a pity it is that nations and people, just like those
thieves, spend their short span of worldly lives looking upon
means of delight and comfort as special gifts of
accomplishment, and look upon material progress as being
actual progress. Whereas on the other hand, they have
adopted uncouth habits like urinating while standing and
cleansing themselves with toilet paper after defecating. They
also consider it normal to take a bath sitting in a tub and
allow the water, which has become dirtied through being in
contact with the anus to be drawn into their mouth and nose.
They consider these actions as the norms of society. Can
such people ever be considered cultured and progressive?
What a pity! The beloved Islamic norms are being cast aside
and such despicable ways are being adopted.
Dua’a
“O Allah Ta’ala, let just rulers be appointed to rule over us,
who will introduce Thy Laws, and punish those who neglect
salaat, consume alcohol, gamble, commit adultery, steal, etc.
Let them punish those women who refuse to observe the rules
of pardah. Let him order the closure of cinema houses,
prostitution quarters and liquor houses”. Ameen.
Ma’aarif- e -Mathnawi
