Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 372
! ! 372 take advantage of all this. From one item, o ne person will derive a benefit whilst another will come to harm from that very same thing. For example, one person may derive nourishment from a dish of salan , whereas another may feel a pain in his stomach after consuming that same salan. Those very grapes and guavas which bring delight to one’s heart and mind , may bring energy to one person’ s body, while causing cholera in others. The same grass, when consumed by a female goat is converted int o milk, whereas when consumed by the male goat, buffalo or bull , is only converted into waste products. No doubt, the Holy Qur’ān is a very superior book , but the work you perform will only be according to the machine that lies within you. For you see, both a female and male goat eat grass and in one there is a m echanism which produces milk from that grass, while in the other is a m echanism which makes waste and empties it. Thus, i f piety and righteousness lie within your hearts a spiritual milk will flow from within you, making you mothers for the whole world. However, if you lack piety and righteousness then even th e most superior of knowledge will deteriorate into little more th an waste within you, making you and others disgusted by your own behavior. So, inculcate the love of God with in yourselves. How many of you love God more than you love your children and husbands? In all honesty, if your children were called up for sacrifice , how many of you would happily and willingly agree to do so ? Take the example of Haz rat Khansa ’ ra. She was a very rich woman. Her husband lost all her wealth through gambling and even when she continued to borrow more money from her brothers , he lost even that. The hu sband died at a very young age, and s he raised her four sons. She converted to Islam at an old age. It is narrated that before a battle , the soldiers had sworn to either return victorious or lose their lives there. Ha z rat Khansa’ ra called all four of her children. She reminded them of the hardships she had endured to raise them, of being widowed at an early age , that their father had been a gambler and had lost all her wealth and property. She had worked hard to bring them up. She told them that she would send them off to war that day