Forgiveness personified- Hazarath Ali

Prophet Mohammed-peace-be-upon-him had a son-in-law. His name was Hazarath Ali. He was also called “Ali Bali” as well as “Sher-e-Khudā”. His might was extraordinary. His gentleness, and humbleness, gave Him the title of “Mahāvīra“, as Hanumāna ji or Mahāvīra Swāmi. This strength was all due to tremendous surrenderance at the feet of His master, Prophet Mohammed-peace-be-upon-him. The actions of non-violence were in His genes.

When Prophet Mohammed-peace-be-upon-him was a young lad, he was quite fond of Qaaba. The priests of the shrine often granted the keys of Qaaba. He used to clean the place, with grave devotion. He grew up and his penances revealed him the majestic Quran. People often called him, Sadiq, the truthful.

Birth- He was born in the Holy Qābā. Before his birth, his mother always felt that she was always residing in the transcendental ocean of bliss. On the day he was to be born, she went inside the Qaaba. She felt as if a majestic force was sucking her inside the shrine. Even, a doctor went inside with her. The doors flapped against each other silently, and were closed. She helped the mother to deliver the baby. When he was born, a cry reverberated in the shrine. But, when the doctor lifted up the baby, she felt as he was a just a ball of light, and was weightless. The experience was extraordinary. She gave him to his mother, He didn’t open His eyes; He simply fluttered His eyes as His first sight occupied Prophet Mohammed-peace-be-upon-him (Prophet was grown up till that time, Hazarath Ali was the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed-peace-be-upon-him) in front of Him. He was born in the ocean of transcendental bliss. The doors of Qaaba opened up silently, and Prophet came inside and lifted the baby up, and praised Allah.

This little incident yields grand conclusions, if thought upon with a pure heart. One is, when our eyes are closed, we should practice seeing the Lord, instead of prancing in stupid thoughts. And, when the eyes are ready to accept the objects of the physical world, we should practice seeing Lord, in all of them. And, second, a person is truly born, when he or she receives the blessings of a Guru. Otherwise, we remain nothing except corpses. Even, Radha Rani opened her eyes, when she saw Sri Krishna. That is the real birth.

His life in youth– He had a sword, Zul vikāra. He was the power of Prophet Mohammed. They were identical in form, within and without. When the people from the Meccā tried to kill Prophet, Ali used to lie on Thy bed, confusing the attackers, and with His strength, He could easily protect Himself. In this way, He saved His Master’s life. He was immensely powerful, but when ever he walked, he placed his feet lightly on the ground, for the little creatures of Allah are not offended.
Once, people were asked by the king to bow down before him. Ali denied to submit His will before a sculpture of ego, He preferred to surrender before an egoless being, Allāh. Such mighty words of Ali annoyed the king and his flatterers. They plotted a plan to eliminate Ali, by introducing a fight. For His defense, He participated in the fight. Though it was a fight between truth and falsehood, it was quite an honest one; the opponents never attacked in stealthy way and the battle used to begin from the dawn and end at the dusk. And, also, the fight was one-with-one, one opponent faced another from the other party, in singularity. (Such honesty while warfare was followed in all huge wars, which took place in history, viz. that in Rāmāyańa, Mahābhārata and the rest.) During the fight, an attacker spat on Ali. Ali placed His sword down, and refused to fight further, quoting that before that moment He was fighting to defend the name of Allāh, but from that instant, if He fought, He would be considered arrogant, owning grudges against the enemy, for insulting Him. He conveyed His love for the opponents as well. The attacker who had spat on Him, was the king from other party. They accepted Islām from that very moment. (Power of forgiveness transformed lives.)

Death- He was growing old. One day, on the nineteenth of Ramazāna, He was fasting and visited the mosque for the daily prayers, as the part of the regime. On that day, outside the mosque, a man was lying on the ground, lost in thought, holding a sword, tipped with poison. When Ali arrived, He woke that man up, for the morning prayers, despite the fact, He knew that the man would be cause of His death, with that same poison-stained sword. They both went inside. Ali bowed down in front of the holy alter, and that man, instead of bowing down, lashed the sword, at Ali‘s nape. Blood splashed over the walls. Ali‘s sons were also there. They couldn’t anticipate the cause and aftermath of such a sudden incident. Ali didn’t die immediately. He sat up and was aware of each and every lasting breath. He announced to His sons of not even thinking of punishing that man. He remained in the state of Samādhi for three days, and used to deliver sermons. He quoted in His sermons the power of forgiveness and that of surrenderance. He thanked for His death in the holy month of Ramazāna and He was awake and aware of His last beats of life. He uttered those words, merging with the divine light, and vocabularized his experience of merging with the Divine, even at the so-called grave moments. On the twenty-first day, He left His physical form, and immersed in the Ocean of the Divine.

We lose our physical body, on death. The soul is eternal and is immortal. If one loses His body in the holy month of Ramazāna, He is liberated from the vicious cycle of births and rebirths, and merges with the Oneness.