Pleasant Stories & Anecdotes — Page 58
58 Prayers with Fervour One of the principles of prayer is that it is impossible to have nec- essary fervour, empathy, and deep concentration, in prayer unless one has good relations with the person who asks for the prayer. It is mentioned about a saint that once he was travelling and a boy fell in front of him and fractured his leg. It created anguish in the saint’s heart. He prayed and requested God to heal the boy’s leg saying why did otherwise He created agony in his [saint’s] heart. (Malf ūzā t, vol. 9, p. 49) A Way of Bonding It is narrated that a person requested Syed Sheikh Nizām-ud-D i n, a saint, for prayers for a personal matter. Sheikh Nizām-ud-D i n said, ‘Bring rice and milk for me’. The person thought in his heart, ‘What a strange saint! I have come to him to present my need, and he has asked me to fulfil his desire’. However, the man went home and came back with the dessert of rice and milk. After eating the dessert, Sheikh Nizām- ud-D i n prayed for him, and this man’s issue was resolved. Nizām-ud-D i n then explained to the man, ‘I asked for the milk and rice dessert from you because when you came to me with your request, you were a stranger to me. I had no reason to have sympathy for you. I thought of this method to develop a relation- ship with you’. (Malf ūzā t, vol. 9, p. 50)