Confirmation Of The Sayings Of Jesus Christ

By
The Man Who Saw God Face To Face
Raphael Okechukwu Nweze

Stories Connected With Jesus

1. Remain Whole By Casting Away The Evil Spirit.
   
It is related that Jesus went out to pray for rain, and when [the disciples] became bored, Jesus said to them, "Whoever of you has committed sin, let him return." Then they all returned, and only one man remained with him in the desert. Jesus said to him, "Have you never committed a sin?" He replied, "By God, I am aware of nothing except that one day when I was praying a woman passed me and I looked at her with this eye; but when she passed me I put my finger in my eye, plucked it out, and threw it after the woman." Then Jesus said to him, "Do you pray to God, that I may say Amen to your prayer!" So he prayed and the sky was covered with clouds, and the rain poured down and they were provided with water.
Do not pluck out your eye, but cast away the evil spirit in the eye, and you shall remain whole and holy unto the Lord. And the blessings of God shall abound.


2. The World Is A Castle Of Illusion.
   
Omar, son of Sa`īd, said: Jesus passed a village, and lo! all its people were dead in the open spaces and the roads. Then he said, "O company of the disciples, these people died because of [God's] anger, for if they had died from any other cause they would have buried one another." They said, "O Spirit of God, we should like to know what happened to them." So he asked God and He revealed to him, "When night comes, call to them and they will answer you." When night came, he went up on a hill and called, "O people of the village!" Then one answered him, "At your service, O Spirit of God." He asked, "What is your condition, and what happened to you?" He replied, "At night we were in health and in the morning we were in hell. (At night means when they were living in the world. Then they thought that the world was the best and all there is. They lived in ignorance (darkness), and failed to seek God and do good. They spent their days enjoying earthly pleasures. Now, they have entered the spirit life, which suppose to be a bright and glorious life, only to find out that they are doomed to stay in hell fire.)"

He said, "How did that come about?" He replied, "By our love of the world and our obedience to the people of disobediences." He said, "What kind of love had you for the world?" He replied, "The love of a boy for his mother; when it approached we rejoiced in it, and when it turned its back we grieved and wept for it." He said, "What is the matter with your companions that they have not replied to me?" He said, "Because they are bridled with bridles of fire in the hands of rough, mighty angels." He said, "Then how did you answer me from among them?" He replied, "Because I was among them but was not of them (They sought for earthly pleasures and craved for it. They practised attachment, possessiveness, being passionate and lustful. He himself was living among them, but did not follow the worldly ways of life.) Then when the punishment descended on them it smote me along with them, and I was suspended on the brink of Jahannam, not knowing whether I should escape from it, or be overturned into it." Then the Messiah said to the disciples, "Verily the eating of barley bread with pounded salt, and the wearing of sackcloth, and sleeping on dunghills often accompanies health in this world and the next. (It is better to live poor and pure life and enter everlasting life, than to gain the whole world and lose eternal life.)"



3. Beware Of Hypocrisy.
   
The following is related on the authority of Jarīr, on the authority of Laith. A man accompanied Jesus, son of Mary, and said, "I will be with you and will accompany you." So they set off and came to the bank of a river and sat down to breakfast; and they had three loaves. They ate two loaves, and a third loaf was left over. Then Jesus rose up and went to the river and drank, after which he returned, but did not find the loaf; so he said to the man, "Who took the loaf?" He replied, "I do not know." (By this he has already committed four sins. One, he stole the bread. Two, he sought to eat bread without giving some to his neighbour. Three, he told a lie. Four, he did not honour the Lord traveling with him.)

Then he set off with his companion and saw a gazelle with two of her young. The narrator says, He called one of them and it came to him; then he cut its throat and roasted part of it, and he and that man ate. Then he said to the young gazelle, "Rise, by the permission of God." When it rose and went away, he said to the man, "I ask you by Him who has shown you this sign, Who took the loaf?" He replied, "I do not know." (The world has seasoned themselves with falsehood to the extent that hypocrisy is now very common. They have also developed many terms to describe or conceal it. They call it diplomacy, tact, smartness, boldness, fearlessness, outspokenness and so on, not knowing that they are already stepping into the gate of hell. If you want to enter the kingdom, let your outside be the same as your inside: honesty.)

Afterwards they came to a wadi with water in it and Jesus took the man's hand and they walked on the water. Then when they had crossed he said to him, "I ask you by Him who has shown you this sign, Who took the loaf?" He replied, "I do not know." Then they came to a desert and sat down, and Jesus began to collect earth and a heap of sand, after which he said, "Become gold, by the permission of God." It became gold, and he divided it into three parts and said, "A third is for me, a third for you, and a third for him who took the loaf." Then he said, "I am the one who took the loaf." He said, "It is all yours." (Do not take advantage of people so that on the last day, the Devil shall not be able to drag you into the hell fire. Should anyone wrongfully take what belongs to you, do not go to get it back from him. In that way, you escape the everlasting doom. For whatever you attach yourself to can draw you away from heaven. Let nothing take your attention from the Most High. It is better to lose the world and gain heaven, than to gain the whole world and lose everlasting life.) Jesus then left him and two men came to him in the desert while he had the wealth with him and wished to take it from him and kill him.

He said, "It is among us in thirds; so send one of you to the village to buy food for us to eat." The narrator said: They sent one of them, and he who was sent said [to himself], "Why should I divide this wealth with these men? I shall put poison in this food and kill them and take the wealth myself." So he did so. And these two men said, "Why should we give this man a third of the wealth? When he returns we shall kill him, and divide the wealth between us." The narrator said: So when he returned they killed him and ate the food and died; and that wealth remained in the desert with those three men lying dead beside it. Then Jesus passed them in that condition and said to his companions, "This is the world; so beware of it.
(One evil leads to more evils. The world encourage one another in hypocrisy and say, 'It does not matter.' What shall they do on the Day of Judgment when and where it matters so much? When grace time to repent shall no longer be possible?) " [In Asin's collection this is followed by three variations of the same story.]


4. The Great Mistake.
   
It is related that a robber had been committing highway robbery among the Children of Israel for forty years. [One day] Jesus passed by followed by a pious man of the Children of Israel who was one of the disciples. Then the robber said to himself, "This is the prophet of God who is passing with his disciple beside him; if I went down, I should make a third with them." So he went down and began to make to approach the disciple, but he was despising himself out of respect for the disciple, and saying to himself, "The like of me cannot walk beside this pious man." [The narrator] said: The disciple noticed him and said to himself, "This man is walking beside me." So he drew himself together and went to Jesus and walked beside him, and the robber remained behind him. Then God revealed to Jesus, "Tell them to begin their works afresh, for I have nullified their past works. As regards the disciple, I have nullified his good deeds because of his self-conceit; and as regards the other, I have nullified his evil deeds because he despised himself." So [Jesus] informed them about that, and joined the robber to himself in his wandering and made him one of his disciples.
The Devil uses many strategies in misleading the children of God. One of the strategies is making them hate or abhor one another. Therefore, he turns the congregation against their leader, turns the believers against the one person that sinned, turns one religion against another, intending to eliminate them all one by one. And people continue to place themselves in his hands because people are spiritually blind, ignorant, and do not know the God they claim to worship


5. "Not By Power, Nor By Might, But By My Spirit," Says The Lord Almighty.
   
It is related that Jesus passed three people whose bodies were wasted and who were pale and said, "What has brought on you that which I see?" They replied, "Fear of hell." He said, "It is God's duty to render secure him who fears." Afterwards he passed from them and came to other three, and lo! they were in greater emaciation and paleness, so he said, "What has brought on you that which I see?" They replied, "Desire of Paradise." He said, "It is God's duty to give you what you hope for." After that he passed from them and came to other three, and lo! they were in still greater emaciation and paleness as though mirrors of light were over their faces, so he said, "What has brought on you that which I see?" They replied, "We love God." He said, "You are those who are nearest to God; you are those who are nearest to God; you are those who are nearest to God." [This is followed in Asin's collection by a variant of the same story.]
Fear, mortification, penance, rosary and pieties cannot save a single soul from hell. This is true irrespective of how well you have been convinced to practise these things. Obedience is better than sacrifice. The person who keeps himself busy attending to the needs of others is better than the person who spends all his time fasting and praying. The person who remembers God always is far better and greater than the person who says the loudest prayer.


6. Hell Is Real
   
It has reached us that Jesus, son of Mary, passed four hundred thousand women who looked pale and who were wearing tunics of hair and wool. Jesus said, "What has made you pale, O companies of women?" They replied, "The thought of hell has made us pale, O son of Mary; he who enters hell will not taste cold or drink."
You do not need to fear hell. Love God, do His words and love others, and you shall enter the kingdom of everlasting life, and even trample hell underfoot.


7. The World Is Nothing. It Is Only A School.
   
It is related that Jesus passed a man who was blind, leprous, lame, paralyzed on both sides, whose flesh was falling from elephantiasis, but who was saying, "Praise be to God who has kept me free from that with which He has afflicted many of His creatures!" Then Jesus said, "O man, what affliction do I see removed from you?" He replied, "O Spirit of God, I am better than he in whose heart God has not put the knowledge of Himself which He has put in my heart." He said to him, "You have spoken the truth; give me your hand." He gave him his hand, and lo! he became the most beautiful of men in face and the finest in figure, for God had removed from him what he was suffering from. So he accompanied Jesus and worshipped with him.
This is enough to teach you the need to seek Truth and find God. In His presence is everlasting joy, such a joy that reduces all the riches and honours and sufferings of this world to nothing. He who has ear, let him hear and understand.


8. Fame Is Vanity.
   
It is said that while Jesus was sitting and an old man was working with a spade with which he was stirring up the ground, Jesus said, "O God, take away hope from him." Then the old man put away the spade and lay down and remained for a time. Jesus then said, "O God, restore hope to him," and he got up and began to work. Jesus asked him about that and he said, "While I was working, lo! my soul said to me, 'How long are you going to work, for you are a very old man?' So I threw away the spade and lay down. Then my soul said to me, 'By God, you must have food as long as you remain;' so I arose to my spade."
Spirit is highly sensitive and responsive. God knows what to do or say to make His wish possible.


9. The World Has Enough Warning Against Hell.
   
It is related that Jesus passed by a skull and kicked it with his foot and said, "Speak, by the permission of God." It said, "O Spirit of God, I was a king at such and such a time. While I was sitting in my kingdom on my throne of state with my crown on my head and my troops and my suite around me, lo! the angel of death appeared to me. Then every limb of mine perished when he appeared, and my soul went out to him. So would that there had been abandonment with respect to those companies! And would that there had been solitude with respect to that society!" [This is followed in Asin's collection by four other accounts of the story of the skull. The following is the fourth and longest of them.]
This story is a warning good enough for the world. Enjoy your possessions, but do not let them divert your heart from God. While doing everyday engagements, remember God and extend mercy to others. Observe quiet times and meditation.


10. You Are Not The Flesh.
    
The story of the skull. It is mentioned, but God knows best, that Jesus one day passed a wadi called the Wadi of the Resurrection, and lo! he saw a white skull whose bones were crumbling. Its whiteness astonished him, for its owner had been dead for seventy-two years; so Jesus said, "O God, whom eye cannot see, or opinions disorder, or men describe, I ask Thee to permit this skull to tell me to what people it belonged." God revealed to him, "O Jesus, speak to it and it will speak to you by My power, for I am omnipotent." [The narrator] said: Then Jesus performed his ablutions and having prayed two rek`as, approached it and said, "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." Then the skull answered him with ready tongue, and it was saying, "O Spirit of God, you have named the best of the names." Jesus said to it, "I ask you by the mighty God, will you not tell me where are the beauty and the whiteness, and where are the flesh and the fat, and where are the bones and the spirit?" Then it replied to him, "O Spirit of God, as regards the beauty and the whiteness, the dust has changed them; and as regards the flesh and the fat, the worms have eaten them; and as regards the bones, they have crumbled; and as regards the spirit, it is to-day in hell in severe punishment." (You are not the body. You are a spirit which indwells, wears and drives the body. The body is nothing but corpse. Therefore, be wise enough and to now seek the imperishable life, so that you do not go to hell at death.)

Jesus said to it, "I ask you by the mighty God, to what people did you belong?" It replied to him, "O Spirit of God, I belonged to a people with whom God was angry in the world." He asked it, "How was God angry with you in the world?" It replied to him, "O Spirit of God, God sent us a prophet who brought us the truth, but we rejected him, and who commanded us to obey God, but we disobeyed Him; so God sent down on us rain and thunderbolts for seven years and seven months and seven days. Then one day some of the avenging angels alighted upon us, every one of whom had two whips, one of iron and one of fire; and an angel kept grasping my soul from joint to joint, and from vein to vein, till the soul reached the windpipe." The skull said: "After that the angel of death stretched out his hand and took out my soul." (If the catching is so severe, then imagine how terrible is the first suffering on entering hell, let alone the subsequent sufferings, in the hands of mighty and merciless Angels. After a sinner is bound in the hell, he then realizes how he had been his own enemy, because he failed to heed warnings to save himself.)

Jesus said to it, "I ask you by the mighty God, will you not describe to me the angel of death?" It replied to him, "O Spirit of God, he has a hand in the East and a hand in the West; his head is in the top of the seventh heaven and his feet are in the lowest borders of the seven [lit. seventh] earths; the world is between his knees and created things are before him." It continued, "O apostle of God, only an hour later two black and blue angels came to me with voices like resounding thunder and eyes like swift lightning and short, curly hair, who were piercing the earth with their nails. Then they asked me, 'Who is your Lord, and who is your prophet, and who is your imām?' [leader in theology]. I was terrified at them, O Spirit of God, and said to them, 'I have no Lord, or prophet, or imām but God.' They said to me, 'You are lying, O enemy of God and of your soul;' and gave me a terrible blow with a sledge-hammer of iron, from the violence of which blow I felt my bones were broken and my chin rent; and they threw me into the depths of Jahannam where they punished me as God wills. While I was in that condition the two recording angels who write down what people do in the world came and said to me, 'O enemy of God, journey with us to the dwellings of the people of Paradise.'" (The Angel of death is just the opposite of Angel of Life. His swiftness is such that he is now at the east and at the same time in the west. There is no where he cannot reach in a second. Only the Holy Spirit limits its presence, power and harm. Be warned!)

It continued, "So I journeyed with them to the first of the gates of Paradise, and lo! Paradise had eight gates made of bricks of gold and silver; its earth is musk, its grass is saffron, its stones are pearls and jacinths, its rivers are milk and water and honey, its inhabitants have the neighbouring planets as friends restricted in tents, [The text at this point is not clear; the translation of this phrase is therefore a conjecture.--JR] the work of Him who possesses glory and honour. I rejoiced in it, O Spirit of God; then they said to me, 'O enemy of God and of yourself, you did not do good in the world that this might be yours; but journey with us to the dwellings of the people of hell.'" It went on," Paradise.'" (Whoever makes himself an enemy of God automatically makes himself his own enemy. This is the real meaning of sin.)

Then I journeyed with them to the first of the gates of hell in which snakes and scorpions were whistling, and I asked them 'For whom is this punishment?' They replied to me, 'For you and for those who devour the property of orphans by oppression.'" Paradise.'" (For those who embezzle public funds, lord it over others and make excessive profits to the detriment of others.) It continued, "Thereafter I journeyed with them to the second gate and lo! there were men suspended by their beards like dogs, with blood and pus before them for food. I asked them [the angels], 'For whom is this punishment?' They replied to me, 'For you, and for those who drink wine in the world and eat what is forbidden.'" It continued, "I then journeyed with them to the third gate, and lo! there were men with fire entering their mouths and coming out at their backs. I asked, 'For whom is this punishment?' They replied to me, 'For you, and for those who reproach virtuous women in the world.'" It went on, "I journeyed next with them to the fourth gate, and lo! there were Women hanging by their tongues with fire coming out of their mouths. I asked them [the angels], 'For whom is this punishment?' They replied to me, 'For you, and for those who neglect prayer in the world.'"

It continued, "Afterwards I journeyed with them to the fifth gate, and lo! there were women suspended by their hair with fire above them. I asked them [the angels], 'For whom is this punishment?' They replied to me, 'For you, and for those who adorn themselves in the world for people who are not their spouses.'" It continued, "Then I journeyed with them to the sixth gate, and lo! there were women suspended by their hair and their mouths. I asked them [the angels], 'For whom is this punishment?' They replied to me, 'For you, and for the women who go astray in the world.'" It went on, "Thereafter I journeyed with them to the seventh gate, and lo! there were men under whom was a well called Hell's Well into which I was thrown, O Spirit of God, and in which I have endured fierce punishment and seen many terrible things." Then Jesus said, "O skull, if you wish, ask me for something, by the permission of God." It said, "O Spirit of God, pray God for me to send me back to the world." So he prayed to God for it, and He brought it to life for him and sent it back for him sound by the power of God. It remained for twelve years worshipping God along with Jesus until the inevitable, i.e. death, came to it. It then died in faith, and God in His mercy made it one of the people of Paradise. Paradise.'" (You who is still in the world should heed these warnings!)

It is related concerning Jesus that he came on a fire which was kindled over a man in the desert. Jesus then took water to put it out, and the fire changed into a youth, and the man changed into fire. So Jesus wept and said, "O Lord, restore them to their former state that I may see what their sin was." Then that fire was removed from them, and lo! they were a man and a youth. The man said, "O Jesus, I have been afflicted in the world by love of this youth, and desire urged me on until I sinned with him one Thursday night, after which I sinned with him another day. Then a man came upon us and said to us, 'Woe to you! Fear God!' I replied to him, 'I am not afraid, and I do not fear.' Then when I died, and the youth died, God turned us into what you see. Sometimes he becomes fire and burns me, and sometimes I become fire and burn him. And this is our punishment until the Day of Resurrection." (The rewards of those who practise homosexuality and lesbianism.)

In one of the books which have been translated [it is said] that John and Simon were among the disciples. John never sat in any company without laughing and making those around him laugh; and Simon never sat in any company without weeping and making those around him weep. [Once] Simon said to John, "How often you laugh, as though you had ceased from your work!" John replied to him, "How often you weep, as though you had despaired of your Lord!" Then God revealed to the Messiah, "The more attractive of the two natures to Me is John's nature."
(God wants you to live a happy life, to rejoice and to feel at home. When you mourn, you make the evil spirits rejoice, for they always want to see you in sadness and agony.)


11. Always Rejoice.
    
In a book also [it is said] that Jesus, son of Mary, met John, son of Zechariah and John smiled to him. Then Jesus said to him, "Verily you smile the smile of a believer." John said to him, "Verily you frown the frown of a despondent one." God then revealed to Jesus, "What John does is more attractive to me."
The joy of the Lord is you strength. Do not spend your time mourning, regreting, worrying, hating or complaining. These things push and pull you into the hell fire.


12. The Name Of The Lord Is Enough To Save You.
    
It is mentioned that Jesus used to raise the dead to life by the permission of God. Some unbelievers [once] said to him, "You have raised people who have died recently, and perhaps they were not dead; so raise for us one who died in the earliest times." He said to them, "Choose whom you will." They said, "Raise for us Shem, son of Noah." Then he came to his grave and prayed two rek`as and called on God, and God raised Shem, son of Noah, and lo! his head and beard had become white. But someone said, "What is this? There were no white hairs in your day." He replied, "I heard the summons, and I thought the Resurrection had come, so the hair of my head and beard became white from terror." Someone asked, "How long have you been dead?" He replied, "For four thousand years; but the agony of death has not left me yet."
Why fear death when there is no death? And why fear resurrection when God, your Father, is resurrection and life? Why fear hell when salvation is free? Call on the name of the Lord and you shall be saved. Pray thus, "Lord, I cannot save myself. Please save my soul."


13. The Same Old Silly Mistake
    
In the time of Jesus there was a man called Accursed for his avarice. One day a man who wished to make a raid came to him and said, "O Accursed, give me some arms to help me in my raid, and by so doing you will be safe from hell"; but he turned away from him and gave him nothing. The man then turned back, but the accursed one repented and called to him and gave him his sword. The man returned, and Jesus, accompanied by a pious man who had worshipped God for seventy years, met him and said to him, "Where have you come from with this sword?" He replied, "The accursed one gave me it." So Jesus rejoiced at his almsgiving. The accursed one was [one day] sitting at his door, and when Jesus passed him accompanied by the pious man, the accursed one said to himself, "I will arise and look at the face of Jesus and at the face of the pious man." So when he arose and looked at them the pious man said, "I shall fly and run from this accursed one before he burns me with his fire." (Welcome back the repentant ones as if they never sinned. And treat those who depart from the way of righteousness as innocent people being misled by evil spirits.)

Then God revealed to Jesus, "Say to My servant, I have forgiven this sinner because of his almsgiving with the sword and because of his love for you; and say to the pious man, Verily he will be your friend in Paradise." The pious man said, "By God, I do not wish Paradise in his company, neither do I wish a friend like him." So God revealed to Jesus, "Say to My servant, Verily you were not pleased with My decree and you despised My servant, so I have made you accursed among the people of hell; I have changed your abodes in Paradise for his in hell, and have given your abodes in Paradise to My servant and his abodes in hell to you."
The Devil uses many strategies in misleading the children of God. One of the strategies is making them hate or abhor one another. Therefore, he turns the congregation against their leader, turns the believers against the one person that sinned, turns one religion against another, intending to eliminate them all one by one. And people continue to place themselves in his hands because people are spiritually blind, ignorant, and do not know the God they claim to worship.
What would you do, if thieves or armed robbers kidnapped your brother because you brother committed an offence? Surely, you will do everything possible to save your brother. Then, if you would strive to rescue your brother from bad people who may be merciful, would you not as much save your brother from evil spirits, who are merciless?


14. Charity Can Save Your Soul.
    
Abdallah, son of Habān, al Bokhārī told us on the authority of Abū al Faraj al Azdī that Jesus, son of Mary, passed by a village in which was a fuller. The people of the village said, "O Jesus, verily this fuller tears our clothes for us and keeps them; so pray to God that He should not let him come back with his bundle." So Jesus said, "O God, do not let him come back with his bundle." [The narrator] said: Then the fuller went away to clean the clothes, and he had three loaves with him. And one who was practising devotion in those hills came to the fuller and said to him, "Have you any bread to give me to eat, or to show me that I may smell its odour? For I have not eaten any bread for such and such a time." So he gave him a loaf, and he said, "O fuller, God forgive you your sin and purify your heart!" Then he gave him the second, and he said, "O fuller, God forgive you your past and your future sins!" So he gave him the third to eat, and he said, "O fuller, God build you a palace in Paradise!" (See the everyday acts of charity and utterances of blessing as what they are: as seeds of blessings sown in the kingdom of heaven.)

The fuller returned safe in the evening and the villagers said, "O Jesus, this fuller has come back." He said, "Call him." Then when he came to him he said, "O fuller, tell me what you did to-day." He replied, "One of the pilgrims of those hills came to me asking for food and I gave him three loaves to eat, and with every loaf I gave him he offered up prayers for me." Jesus said, "Bring your bundle that I may look at it." He gave him it and he opened it, and lo! there was in it a black snake curbed with an iron curb. Jesus said, "O black one!" It replied, "At your service, O prophet of God!" He said, "Have you not been sent to this man?" It replied, "Yes, but a pilgrim from those hills came to him and asked him for food, and with every loaf he gave him to eat he offered up a prayer for him, and an angel was standing and saying 'Amen!' Then God sent an angel to me and he curbed me with an iron curb." Then Jesus said, "O fuller, recommence your work, for God has forgiven you by the blessing of your almsgiving to Him."
Give to all with discrimination. Give to the rich and poor, to the great and small, to big and small, to those you know and those you do not know, and to the saint and sinner.


15. The Benefits Of Almsgiving And The Power Of Praise
    
The prophet--i.e. Mohammad said that God commanded John, son of Zechariah, five words according to which he was to act, and he was to command the Children of Israel that they should act according to them, but he was on the point of delaying with them. So Jesus said, "Verily God has commanded you five words according to which you should act, and you must command the Children of Israel that they should act according to them; so either you must command them, or I will command them." John said, "I am afraid that if you precede me with them, I may be swallowed up or punished." (Be quick to perform your duty, lest another do it and take your blessings.)

Then he gathered the people together in Jerusalem, and the mosque was full and they sat on the pinnacles; and he said, "Verily God commanded me five words according to which I should act and should order you to act according to them. The first is that you should worship God and associate nothing with Him; for he who associates anything with God is like a man who buys a slave with all his property, in gold or documents, and says, 'This is my house and this is my work, so work and bring me profit,' then he works and brings profit for someone else. So which of you wishes to be like that? (God is One. The same God is Trinity, just as fire has the trinity of heat, flame and light, and as water has the triple state of solid, liguid and gas. God the Son does not mean that God begets a child the way human beings do. It simply means another - subsequent - manifestation of the same God. Energy changes into Heat, Heat changes into Flame, and Flame changes into Light. Each being able to generate all the others.)

And verily God commands you to practise prayer; and when you pray, do not turn about, for God directs His face to His servant's face in his prayer so long as he does not turn about. And He commands you to observe fasting, for that is like a man in a company who has a purse in which is musk whose perfume pleases them all, or pleases him; and verily the perfume of him who fasts is better in God's estimation than the perfume of musk. (This teaching and warning is timely, because today, many spoil their prayer and worship with handsets. People should not go to church with handsets or they should switch them off when they do so.)

And He commands you to give alms; for that is like a man whom the enemy have taken captive and bound his hand to his neck and put him forward to execute him [lit. to strike his neck], who says, 'I will ransom it [his neck] from you by little or by much;' so he ransoms himself from them. And He commands you to glorify God; for that is like a man in pursuit of whom the enemy goes out in haste until he comes to a strong fort and preserves himself from them. Similarly the worshipper preserves himself from the devil only by glorifying God." [Although this is attributed to John the Baptist, it is included because Jesus is said to have been prepared to say it if John did not.]
(This is well explained. Give alms to save your soul from much trouble, and praise God to access His omnipotence and goodness.)


16. Worship The One True God.
    
It is related in the record that Jesus passed a village; and in that village there was a hill, and in the hill there was great weeping and wailing. He said to the villagers, "What is this weeping and this wailing in this hill?" They replied, "O Jesus, from the time we settled in this village we have been hearing this weeping and this wailing in this hill." Then Jesus said, "O Lord, permit this hill to speak to me." God gave the hill utterance and it said, "O Jesus, what do you want from me?" He said, "Tell me the meaning of your weeping and wailing." It said, "O Jesus, I am the hill from which the idols were being hewn which men worship instead of God, and I am afraid lest God should cast me into the fire of Jahannam, for I heard God saying, 'Fear hell whose fuel is men and stones.'" [Korān II, 22; LXVI, 6.] Then God revealed to Jesus, "Say to the him, Be at peace, for I have protected it from Jahannam."
(Be warned! God does not make use of duplicates. There is no other god, so why worship what is non-existent?)


17. Be As Innocent As A Dove.
    
Jesus, son of Mary, passed a graveyard and called to a man in it. Then God brought him to life, and [Jesus] said, "Who are you?" He replied, "I was a carrier, carrying things for people. One day I carried some firewood for a man and broke off a piece of it with which I was pierced; and I am being sued for it since my death."
(For stealing a stick of matches, a soul goes to hell. Therefore, shun evil, even the least of it. You may say that a stick of matches is too small. Yes, it is too small. But remember that a grain of mustard seed grows into a mighty tree, with so many branches and leaves that things greater than the mustard seed come and build their homes on the tree. A small good brings so many good in returns. Likewise, a tiny evil generates many evils. )


18. ...
    
It is related that Jesus passed a grave and kicked it with his foot and said, "O you who are in the grave, arise by the permission of God." Then a man arose from the grave and said, "O Spirit of God, what do you want with me? For I have been standing in judgment for seventy years till I heard the shout, 'Answer the Spirit of God.'" Jesus said, "O you, you have committed many faults and sins, so what did you do?" He replied, "O Spirit of God, I was a seller of fuel who carried firewood on my head and ate what was allowable and gave alms." Jesus said, "Praise be to God! A seller of fuel who carried firewood on his head and ate what was allowable and gave alms, and he has been standing in judgment for seventy years!" Then Jesus asked him about what his Lord said to him in the judgment, and he said, "O Spirit of God, one of the rebukes of my Lord was that He said, 'Do you remember the day My servant, so and so, hired you to carry a bundle of firewood for him, and you took a piece of wood from it and were pierced with it and threw it away from its place in the bundle out of your despite for Me, although you knew that I am God who looks at your work and your intention?'"
...


19. Humiliation And Suffering Purify A Soul.
    
It is related on the authority of Mohammad, son of Abū Mūsā, concerning Jesus, son of Mary, that he passed an afflicted man and treated him kindly and said, "O God, I beseech Thee to heal him." Then God revealed to him, "How can I heal him from that with which I am healing him?" [Showing that bodily trouble may lead to spiritual advantage.]
(Proverbially, gold never becomes precious without first passing through the furnace of fire. However, much trouble is man-made and unnecessary, for it is the will of the Father that His children live happily.)


20. Climb To The Mountain Top To Enter The Golden City.
    
Jesus passed a young man watering a garden, and the young man said to Jesus, "Ask your Lord to provide me with an atom of His love." Jesus replied, "You are not able for an atom." So he said, "Half an atom." Then Jesus said, "O Lord, provide him with half an atom of Thy love;" after which Jesus went away. A long time afterwards, when he passed that young man's place, he asked about him and the people said, "He became possessed and went to the mountains." Then Jesus prayed God to show him to him, and he saw him among the mountains and found him standing on a high rock whose tip reached to the sky. Jesus saluted him, but he did not return the salutation; so he said, "I am Jesus." Then God revealed to Jesus, "How can he in whose heart is half an atom of My love listen to the words of men? By My might and glory, if I were to cleave him with a saw, he would not be aware of that!"
(Live in the world, but do not cleave yourself to the world. The world is God's own school. It is a castle of illusion, necessary for a while. Remember God, always.)


21. Always Remember God.
    
It is related in the stories that John [the Baptist] and Jesus were walking in the market when a woman knocked against them. Then John said, "I am not cognizant of that." Jesus said, "Praise be to God! Your body is with me, but where is your heart?" He replied, "O cousin, if my heart found rest in something other than God for the twinkling of an eye, I should think that I had not known God."
In doing your everyday work, remember God.