Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi and the Thieves

One night Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi went walking among his subjects
after taking off his royal clothes and putting on ordinary clothes. He
chanced to come upon a group of thieves who were consulting amongst
themselves. On seeing him they asked: "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 and it was decided that each one of
them should explain what speciality or skill hepossesses so that at
the time of need a task couldbe put before him to show that special
skill.
One of the thieves said: " Friends , I have a special gift in my ears,
that whenever a dog barks, I fully understand what hesays."
The second one said: "I have a special gift in my eyes, that whatever
I see in the darkness of night, Iam able to recognize it inthe light
of day."
The third one said: "I have this speciality 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 this 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 isjust like in the
case of Majnoon, who without being told, merely by smelling the
ground, got to know where Layla wasburied."
The fifth one said: "I havesuch strength in my hands that no matter
how high a building is, I can climb along its wall with my rope ladder
and easily enter the building in this manner."
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 speciality in my beard that when
criminals are handed over to their executioner,I merely shake my beard
and such criminals are immediately set free." (Inother words, if as a
showof mercy I shake my beard, the criminals found guilty of murder,
are set free).
On hearing this the thieves said: "O dear Qutub, on the day of
difficulty, you will be our one means of salvation." (In other words,
if we arearrested, then through you blessings we will be saved. Now we
do not have to fear, because therest of us had the special gift which
would help us in our thieving exploits, but none of us had the means
of granting safety from punishment. This speciality lies only with
you. Now we need not have any fear of punishment. Now we canget on
with our work).
They all went in the direction of the palace ofShah Mahmood with the
King in their midst. Alongthe way a dog barked and the one who
understood the dog's language translated: "The King is also in you
midst." Although they heard it, no one paid anyattention 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. Theother one threw a rope ladder against
the wall. The other one made a hole in the wall and they all entered
to burgle. 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 re-entered the Royal Palace . The
following day the King related the entire story to his courtiers and
thereafter sent the policemen to arrest them and to inform them of
their death sentence.
When they were broughtbefore 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 sights 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 al 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
thefeelings of fear and hopealternated. The 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 judgement, this person appealed in
great humility: "Sire, with you 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 speciality should be exhibited according to the
promise. I have all the while recognized you. Remember you had
promised that in you beard there is this speciality, that if you cause
it to move in mercy, the criminal will be saved from punishment.
Hence, O King, shake you beard, sothat through the blessings of your
grace, all of us can be saved from the punishment of our crimes. Our
specialities have broughtus to the gallows. Now it is only you special
gift that is left which can save us from being punished of our crimes.
Our specialities have brought us to the gallows. Now it is only you
special gift that is left which can save us from being punished. Now
is the time for the exhibition of your speciality. Kindly shake your
beard. Because of fear our lives have reached right up to our mouths.
Please save us with the special gift that lies in your beard."
Sultan Mahmood smiled at the plea and became filled with mercy and
grace as he heard their 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 notto shake my beard and thereby exhibit my special
quality."
Lessons
The first lesson containedis this story is that while a person is
committing a crime the true King of Kings is with him, and is fully
aware of all that he does. "And He is with youwherever you are." When
a person commits any disobedience to Allahhe is actually committing
treachery against Him. Anyone who fails in his duty to Allah or in the
rights which are due to me, is like a thief committing the theft of
Allah's treasures. For this reason, one should always bear in mind
that the Master is the witness, seeing us at all times, andis aware of
all that we do. If we commit any disobedience or iniquity, 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
tellsyou: "I am seeing what you do. I am with you. Mylaws have been
revealed to you. Today your breaking that law. Today,in this world I
will hide your fault, hoping that perhaps you will come upon the right
road. But if you do not come to your senses, then tomorrow on the day
of Qiyamat when you will be brought before Me, with hands bound
together, then who will be able to save you from My anger and
revenge?"
The second lesson from this story is that Allah willpunish sinners in
the hereafter although He may initially overlook them in this world.
We see that at the time the thieves were looting the Royal treasury,
the Sultanwitnessed the entire incident. He was with them and allowed
them to proceed without being punished. However in the end, he had
them arrested. If, at all times, this thought is uppermost in our
minds that Allah sees all our deeds then there will surely be fear in
the heart against committingsins.
The third lesson from thisstory is this that on the day of Qiyamat no
specialquality will be of any benefit. All those deeds which
contravene the laws of Allah will on the day of Qiyamat be boundaround
man's neck even though, in this world, they were considered as being
special qualities. The thieves mentioned those special gifts and
qualities as if the 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 onlycaused their misfortune to increase."
Any special quality whichdoes not bring a person nearer to his
Creator, andwhich does not connect the heart to Allah, and which is
not a medium towards the remembrance of Allah is no quality of virtue.
In fact it is a cure and a misfortune. All the powers and attributes
of man which are used in rebellion against Allah and towards
disobedience and negligence, will one day cause him to be brought
before Allah as a criminal. All those nationswho have made great
progress and through scientific inventions havemade this world
subservient to them, but turn away from Allah, passing their lives in
disobedience, will realizeon the day of Qiyamat, whether the
speciality of scientific progress had been the cause of receiving
Allah'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 lightanywhere."
The fourth lesson from this story is that no special quality will be
of benefit except that which leads towards recognizing Allah, just
like the person who having seen the Sultan, recognized him and through
this special quality, he not only savedhimself but was also able to
intercede on behalf of this companions. As for his other companions,
their special quality became a means towardsearning Allah's
punishment.
"Only the sight of the fortunate one was of any use
Who recognized the Sultan during darkness of night."
The lesson derived is thatthis world is like a place of darkness. In
the darkness of this world, every servant of Allah who follows the
Divine Laws of Shariat and through its blessings recognizes Allah,
will be provided with salvation against the punishment on hell-fire,
on the day ofQiyamat. This recognitionwill 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 will accept this intercession from whomever He wishes according
to His Mercy . For those whom He will not accept this intercession, He
will in perfect justice exhibit Hisoverwhelming vengeance. Hence,
fortunate indeed is the person who, in the world, created within
himself the knowledge ofrecognizing Allah. The Aarifeen (True knowers
of Allah) who through their spiritual efforts andexercises recognize
Allah with their souls, will tomorrow on the day of Qiyamat see Allah
and attain salvation. Furthermore their intercession on behalf of
other sinners will also be accepted. But the disbelievers and
criminals will through their special qualities be admitted into
hell-fire. On that day these poor starving ones with pale faces,
patched coarse clothing, who today are being ridiculed and jeered at,
will feast their eyes upon the countenance of Allah. On that day, the
criminals will envy them:
"Would that we had livedlike them in the world and acquired their qualities.
Would that we had recognized Allah properly!"
The fifth lesson is this that the story also illustrates the high
position these righteous and saintly ones have as far as their
humanity is concerned. What a pity that nations and people, just like
those thieves, spend their short span of worldly lives looking upon
means of delight and comfort as special gift and accomplishment,and
look upon material progress as being actual progress. Whereas on
theother hand, they have adopted uncouth habits like urinating while
standing and cleansing themselves with paper after defecating. They
also consider it normal totake a bath sitting in a tub and allow the
water, which had become dirtied through being in contact with the anus
to be drawn into their mouth and nose. They consider those actions as
the norms of society. Can such people ever be considered to be
cultured and people of progress? What a pity it is that the beloved
cultural ways of Muslims should be cast aside and that such despicable
ways of these people should be adopted.