Increase Your Need

Increase Your Need

"The mouse-soul is nothing but a nibbler.
To the mouse is given a mind
proportionate to its need,
for without need, the All-Powerful doesn't give anything to anyone.

Need, then, is the net for all things that exist:
A person has tools in proportion to his need.
So quickly, increase your need, needy one,
that the sea of abundance
may surge up in loving-kindness."

- Rumi 

This subtle truth about the practice of God is repeatedly mentioned in various contexts by the Promised Messiah (as). He writes about it with such conviction that it becomes clear that these statements are coming from a place of abundant experience. There remains no mystery or probability about it--it is a fact that God's mercy is such that it descends when and where there is a need for it.

He writes in one place:

"This is the same attribute that, at times, is roused to take care of the physical needs of the famine-stricken and pours down the rain of mercy upon parched land; and the same attribute is roused spiritually, at other times, as compassion for the starved and thirsty, who are in the deadly grip of error and misguidance and have run short of the nourishment of truth and righteousness, which is the source of spiritual life.

Just as the Most Gracious God provides food for the body at the time of its need, so does He, by virtue of His perfect mercy, provide spiritual nourishment at the time of its true need."

 

In another place, the Promised Messiah (as) addresses the doubt of why this Divine Law does not seem to shine forth on every occasion:

"However, the doubt as to why sometimes this seeking of help proves useless and of no avail, and why the rahmaniyyat and rahimiyyat of God do not display their brilliant light on every occasion of seeking help, is caused only by misunderstanding a verity, because God Almighty certainly hears the supplications which are offered in sincerity, and also, as appropriate, helps the supplicants. However, it sometimes happens that a person’s supplication for help and his prayer lack sincerity, or he does not beg help from Allah with heartfelt humility, or his spiritual condition is not up to the standard; rather, while his lips utter the prayer, his heart is heedless or ostentatious. Or, sometimes it so happens that God listens to his prayer and grants him in the most appropriate and beneficial manner in accordance with His perfect wisdom, but the ignorant person fails to recognize those hidden beneficences of God, and, owing to his ignorance and lack of awareness, starts complaining."

This, too, he writes based on certainty gained from decades of personal experience. If these were the words of a philosopher instead, one could say that this writer is simply trying to rationalize their belief in God, and finding an excuse for why God does not respond at times. 

However, upon reading a bulk of the writings of the Promised Messiah (as), and his various experiences, there can be no doubt that these come from a place of true, and pure experience. Thus, one should understand with conviction that this is the Divine Law. God's mercy descends where it is needed. 

It was the height of barbarity, injustice, and utter darkness in the world that necessitated the need for such a powerful and splendid teaching, in the Holy Qur'an, that it would address the spiritual illnesses present at their height in the world. The fact that God revealed such a mighty teaching purely in response to the darkness present in the world, is one of the proofs of this Divine Law.

Thus, if we suffer from any type of darkness, we too should recognize our need, and beseech God on account of it, that He bestow His mercy upon us, as it is His practice to shower rain upon parched land.