PRICELESS RING

Once upon a time, there was a Sultan. The Sultan had a priceless ring on his finger.
A group of people had assembled in his presence then the Sultan asked :
“Is there anything more valuable and worthier than this ring?“
Everybody said:“No, your majesty!“, then

One of them said “Yes there is“.

The Sultan got angry at him saying ” Throw this man in to prison“.
The guards threw him in to the prison.
After a period of time, The Sultan ordered “bring this man to me“.
The guards brought the man to him.
The Sultan asked “What is more valuable than this ring, say it ?”
The man :”My Sultan please forgive me but you are in heedlessness”
The Sultan ordered to his guards by saying “Behead this man“.
This time the man said:”My Sultan , you are getting more heedless now“.
The Sultan said “Then say it to me what is more valuable than this ring“.
The man :” Your finger your majesty!”
When the king understood his mistake, he kissed the hand of that man by
saying “Forgive me , I gave such a torment to you“.


Translated by Barbaros Sert from the writings of Dr.Munir Derman (K.S). He was a Doctor of Medicine and Tasawwuf . He lived in Turkey between year 1910 and 1989. He was a very special sufi saint and did not like the reputation. His works can be found in Turkish only at the moment. We will translate some of his works to English and publish in this English section for our English readers inshaallah.

Dear brothers and sisters, every human being has body and soul created by Allah. Body is like this ring. If we are feeding our body constantly and thinking that we are only body by forgetting our soul (Rooh), we become like that sultan giving importance to his ring and forgetting the importance of his own finger. We need to feed our soul as well. Some people think that “Rizq” which is mentioned in the Qur’an is only what we eat and drink for the benefit of our own body.

Yes they are also Rizq but feeding the body and following the desires of the body and our nafs, can bring our end and makes us forget the real Rizq (Ilm) feeding our soul. Our soul is more important than our body. What makes our body important is the guest(our soul)which body is welcoming. Intelligent one thinks of his soul and gives more importance to his soul than his body.

Our body is made of the elements(earth,water,air,fire)of this world and it desires the elements of this earth but our soul is different. If we follow our body it will pull us towards the dunya(world)and destroy us. If we give more importance to our soul, it will be pulled towards Allah and surely the reward and rizq of soul is greater than the physical rizq. The only way to obtain this rizq is to follow the Sunnah of Rasulullah(SAW)and learn ilm.If we follow our body and nafsanic desires , Shaiytan will make us forget the zikrullah. Lets not be in heedlessness.

“Ye offspring of Adam ! I created you for Myself and created everything for you. Out of duty to Me, do not get absorbed by what I created for you at the expense of what I created you for“.
Kudthi Hadith

Barbaros Sert
Basildon -31st of August 2007
(18 Shaban 1428)