THE STORY ABOUT A CURE FOR SENSUAL LOVE

A certain devotee resided in the company of a saintly man for the sake of improvingand rectifying his spiritual life. He diligently applied himself to the Dhikr and deedswhich the Shaykh prescribed for him. However there was one maid servant of theShaykh who brought the food to them from the Shaykh's house.By continuously looking at her as she brought the food, his heart became filledwith love for her. Thus whenever she brought the food, he cast lustful glances ather, instead of looking at the food.The maid was also a devotee seeking for Allah (SWT). She soon realised thatthis man was casting lustful glances at her. Her enlightened heart perceived thelustful glances and thus she went to complain to the Shaykh: "Sire, a certainMureed of yours is involved with lustful love. What benefit will there be for himfrom your prescribed Zikr and spiritual exercises? You should first cure him of thisfigurative love."It is the practice of the saintly ones, as far as possible, that they do not exposeor humiliate their companions nor those connected with them, so that thesepeople do not loose heart through their disappointment. As the Sheikh isdevoted to Allah (SWT) , his sights are directed at Allah's grace and bounties:"When Allah's Mercy comes pouring forth,The fire worshipper of a hundred yearsCan become the pride of all Saints.Do not despise any disbeliever.Who knows when Allah's (SWT) Mercy may take him?It is possible that before death overtakes,The Non Belivers and the Mushrik can become Bayazid (one saintly one)This can happen within a blink of the eye. "Hence the Sheikh, in spite of knowing the secret, did not scoldthe Mureed and refrained from exposing him. However, within himselfhe was thinking of a way to cure him of this lustful love.It so happened that from Allah's side he was inspired with a plan and heacted upon it. He gave the maid servant some laxative which causedher acute diarrhoea. He also instructed her to let the faecesthat came out of her accumulate in one bucket.Due to the purgative she had taken, she defecated about twenty timesuntil she became very weak and thin. Her face became exceedingly pale andher eyes and cheeks turned hollow. Her face appeared frightful like one sufferingfrom cholera. She appeared very unattractive and all her beauty hadvanished. The Sheikh then told her: "Take his food to him today andthen quietly stand there."When the Mureed saw the maid, instead of looking at her, he now turnedhis eyes away and told her: "Put the food down". As he uttered thesewords the Sheikh entered in the room and said:"0 you fool, why is it that today you turn your eyes away from this girl?What is missing from her today that your love for her has vanished?"Then the Sheikh instructed the girl to bring the container in which all thefaces has been collected. When she placed it before him, the Shaykhsaid to the Mureed: "0 foolish one, apart from those faces,nothing else was extracted from this girl. From this it seems that in actualfact you were in love with these faeces and now that it has gone outof her body, your love is also gone".Lesson:-The Shaykh asked the Mureed: "Tell me, if you really loved this girl then how is it that this love has now turned to dislike and aversion? "Through this plan of the Shaykh, it soon dawned upon the Mureed that he had become involved withsensual love. The mureed became ashamed of it and in sorrow and lamentations, he repented to Allah. Throughthis repentance and sorrow he was eventually endowed with true Divine Love.Story from Mathnavi of Moulana Jalaluddin Rumi (R.A.)