032 - Trust in Allah but tether your camel first

This Sufi saying wants to create the third type of man, the real man; who knows how to do and how not to do. One who can be a doer when needed. Can say "Yes!" yet be passive when needed and can say "No!". And one who is utterly wakeful in the day and utterly asleep in the night; who knows how to inhale and how to exhale. Actually one who knows the balance of life.

The saying comes from this small parable.

A master was travelling with one of his disciples. The disciple was incharge of taking care of the camel. They reached an oasis at night, tired and exhausted.  It was the disciple's duty to tether the camel. But he did not bother to do it and he left the camel outside. Instead he simply prayed, He said to God, "Take care of the camel," and promptly fell asleep.

In the morning the camel was gone, maybe stolen or had wandered away. The master came out and asked, "Where is the camel?"

The disciple said, "I don't know. You ask God. I had told Allah to take care of the camel as I was too tired and went to sleep. So, I don't know. And I am not responsible either, because I had told him very clearly! There was not chance of His missing the point. Not only once. Infact, I told him thrice. you go on teaching "Trust Allah", so I trusted. Now don't look at me with anger."

The master said, "Trust in Allah but tether your camel first - because Allah has no other hands than yours."

If He wants to tether the camel He will have to use your hands. He has no other hands. And it is your camel! The best, easiest and shortest way is to use your hands. Trust Allah - don't trust only your hands, otherwise you will become tense. But first tether the camel and then trust Allah. You will ask - then why trust Allah if you are tethering the camel, because a tethered camel can also be stolen. There is no guarantee of the certainty of the result. You do whatsoever you can do and then whatsoever happens, accept it. This is the meaning of tether the camel. Do best whatever is possible for you to do, don't shirk your responsibility, and then if nothing happens or something goes wrong, trust Allah. He knows best. Then maybe it right for us to travel without the camel."

It is very easy to trust Allah and be lazy. It is very easy not to trust Allah and be a doer. The third type of man is difficult -  to trust Allah and yet remain a doer. God is the real doer; you are just instruments in his hands. Every day it must be happening that you could have done something, but you didn't do it. You are using the excuse that if God wants it done, He will do it anyhow. Or, you do something and then you wait for the result you expect. And if the result you expected never comes then you are angry. You then feel as if you have been cheated, as if God has betrayed you. You feel he is against you. The he is partial, prejudiced and unjust. And then you have a complaint against him in your mind. Then trust is missing.

The religious person is one who goes on doing whatsoever is humanly possible but creates no tension because of it. We are very tiny, small atoms in this complicated universe. Nothing depends only on my own action. There are thousands of energies crossing and interacting with each other. The total of the energies will decide the outcome. How can I alone decide the outcome? But, if I don't do anything then things may never be the same. I have to do, and yet I have to learn not to expect. Then doing is a kind of prayer. There is no desire that the result should be such and such. Then there is no frustration. Trust will help you to remain happy.

Tethering the camel will help you to remain alive, intensely alive.

source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html