At 08:22 PM 3/31/2010, Terry Blanton wrote:
On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 8:10 PM, Abd ul-Rahman Lomax
<[email protected]> wrote:
> God, protect me from false friends, who will agree with me when I'm astray,
> and stoke the fires of my self-righteousness.
. . . to further their agenda.
Is that yours or a quote from an adept?
Well, I wrote it and wasn't quoting anyone, but it's pretty standard
stuff for a khatib (giver of the sermon at Friday prayer), which I've
been. It's a variation on some very standard invocations, along the
lines of "God, protect us from the urgings of our selves." The
Prophet is reported as saying, when victorious in battle in the
world, "Now begins the greater struggle (jihad), the struggle with
the self." The word in Arabic has a range of meanings, similar to
those in English for "self," but it can also mean "soul."
Classically, the "self" is compared with a camel, which is a animal
that has a reputation for utter stubbornness and meanness, the
stereotype is that a camel would sooner step on your head if on the
ground, than to avoid it.
The short of this, translated into conversational English, is that we
can be our own worst enemies, and if we realize this, and step away
from attachment to being right, to being superior, and all that, and
start listening to others who are giving us good counsel, we can
avoid this danger.
I've noticed that it's most important for me to listen to those who
are attacking me, because sometimes they will tell me things about
myself that my friends won't, for whatever reason. That I notice this
doesn't mean that I always do it!
