Wahb ibn Munabbih, a seventh century universal Muslim historian, had related that there was a king who was numbered among the great kings.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One day, the king wished to go for a ride. He bade all the commanders of his army to ride out also, in order to display his sovereignty and might to the people. Magnificent garments were brought for him to wear, but it was not pleasing to him, so he demanded another until after several tries he donned one that was the finest one. Splendid horses of pedigree stock were led before him; but he was not satisfied until an even more splendid horse was brought.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On this splendid horse the king rode out, proceeding with great pomp into the midst of his entourage. The Devil came and put his mouth on the king\u2019s nose and blew the wind of vainglory up it, with the result that the king said to himself. \u2018Who is there in the universe like me?\u2019 And he rode on, not glancing in his vainglory at anybody.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then an old man clad in rough clothes came and saluted the king, who gave no response.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The man seized the horse\u2019s reins.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Do not you know whose horse\u2019s reins you are holding?\u2019 asked the king. \u2018I have a request to make of you\u2019, he said. \u2018Wait until I dismount\u2019, the king replied. \u2018I want it now\u2019, he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Tell me what it is\u2019, the king asked.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Nobody must know\u2019, he said: \u2018for I have a secret which must be told into no ears but yours\u2019. \u2018Tell it\u2019, the king said. The man raised his head to the king\u2019s ear and whispered, \u2018I am the Angel of Death. I have come to take your soul at this moment.\u2019 \u2018Give me a respite\u2019, begged the king who was growing pale; \u2018enough to go home and bid farewell to my wife and children.\u2019 \u2018No, by God\u2019, he replied; \u2018never again shall you go home and see your wife and children, for your life is reckoned at one breath\u2014and the moment has come!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And right at that moment, when the king was on horseback, he seized the king\u2019s soul, and the king fell to the ground.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Angel of Death then left the king and went to a believer with whom God was pleased. He saluted the believer, who gave a response and then said to him, \u2018I have a secret for you.\u2019 \u2018Tell it\u2019, the believer asked. \u2018I am the Angel of Death\u2019, he said. \u2018You are welcome\u2019, the believer replied; \u2018God be praised that you have come, for I have long been waiting for you.\u00a0\u00a0In all the universe there has been no-one whom I have wanted to meet more than you.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Any business you have, you may attend to now\u2019, the Angel of Death said. \u2018Any business of mine\u2019, he replied, \u2018is less important than meeting the True God.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018How would you like me to take your soul\u2019 the Angel asked; \u2018for I was bidden, \u201cTake his soul in the way he would like.\u201d\u2019 \u2018Give me\u2019, he replied, \u2018a while until I carry out the ablutions and perform the prayer.\u00a0\u00a0When I have prostrated myself, then take my soul.\u2019 The Angel of Death did as he requested and carried him to the mercy of God the Strong and Glorious.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This story depicts in parable a contrast between two characters.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The king symbolises one to whom belongs powerful dominion, a possessor and owner of everything humanly possible: lands, properties, armies, entourage, servants, vehicles, livestock, clothes, palatial mansion, beautiful gardens, wives, and children.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Having a habit of indulging the passions, such a man was not easy to be satisfied. When fine clothes and splendid horses were led before the king, he was not satisfied until an even finer clothes and more splendid horse of pedigree stock was brought by his staff. And those surrounded him were people who might flatter and sought to please him in order to gain their own worldly ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So much powerful was he that he wondered,\u00a0\u2018Who is there in the universe like me?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bursting with pride and \u201cnot glancing in his vainglory at anybody\u201d, he couldn\u2019t care less to the needs begged by his subjects. Even as he was greeted with the salutation of peace (salam<\/em>), he gave no response. No wonder that at his death throes, all that this so-called great king could be concerned of were his wife and children.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Undergoing the threat of death, such a man refused to accept mortal danger and wanted to cling to life. There was no readiness to die at all.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As an ancient Persian saying goes, \u201cHe who has established justice may certainly sleep in safety; he who has oppressed is always fearful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Compare that to the second character in the story\u2014simply, the believer.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He could be a king, ruler, scholar, judge, lawyer, soldier, teacher, or trader. Indeed, such a man could be of any profession and position, but the ultimate aim of his endeavour in this life is one: to believe in the One God and His Messengers, to purify his soul, to make this world a better place for mankind, to do good to every man, and to preach the message of God to one and all.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Caliph \u2018Umar ibn \u2018Abd al-\u2018Aziz asked Muhammad al-Qurazi to describe justice to him, he replied, \u201cTo every Muslim who is younger than you, be a father; and to every Muslim who is older than you, be a son; and to every Muslim of the same level, be a brother; and punish every offender in proportion to his crime.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Again, if such a believer were a ruler or leader, he would act justly towards his inferiors and at the same time keep his staff, household and children on the path of justice.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, according to al-Ghazzali in\u00a0Nasihat al-Muluk<\/em>, nobody can do this unless he first observes justice within himself, that is, by restraining his tyrannous passions and anger in order to make them under the control of reason and religion (al-\u2018aql wa al-din<\/em>). On the contrary, those who are under the sway of passion or anger will think up subterfuge and stratagems for bringing their passion or anger to fruition.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To borrow al-Ghazzali\u2019s metaphor: The sun of justice first rises in the leader\u2019s breast. Then its light falls upon his family, then its beam spread to his staff, and then its rays reach his inferiors. But to expect to find rays without the sun is to expect the impossible.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Prophet Muhammad had said, \u201cThere may well be persons whose names will be recorded in the register of the tyrants even though they hold no authority except over their own families.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When offered respite from death, such a believer replied that \u2018Any business of mine is less important than meeting the True God.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As his time is up, he faces death with awareness and full understanding. As Abu Qilabah once said, \u201cIf God is with you, what is there to fear? If He is not with you, where will you take shelter?\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His aspiration is simply to die during prostration, which symbolises the endeavour to make the truth triumphant over everything else.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Whoever he is, this believer is in the deepest way superior than the great king.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wahb ibn Munabbih, a seventh century universal Muslim historian, had related that there was a king who was numbered among the great kings. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One day, the king wished to go for a ride. 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