وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَى تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Wa zakkir fa innaz zikraa tanfa’ul mu’mineen
Az-Zariyat (The Scatterers) 51:55 Go on reminding [all who would listen]: for, verily, such a reminder will profit the believers.
There is a well known story about Malik Ayaz, the devoted servant of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, which beautifully brings out the meaning of this verse.
It is said that Malik Ayaz had become very close to Sultan Mahmud. The Sultan trusted him deeply and kept him near, and because of this many people around the court became jealous. Their hearts could not bear the favor shown to him, and so they were always conniving to rid the Sultan of from under his influence.
One day they came with an accusation. They claimed that Ayaz had hidden stolen wealth inside a secret chamber, a room that he entered alone every day. They spoke with confidence, hoping that suspicion would do what truth could not.
When the Sultan heard this, he ordered the chamber to be opened.
The door was broken, and the room was searched.
But inside there was no gold.
There were no jewels.
There were no hidden treasures.
All they found was a worn garment and an old pair of leather slippers.
The Sultan was surprised, and he summoned Ayaz to ask him about it.
“Why do you go to this room every day?” he asked.
Ayaz replied, “Before I entered your service, these were my only possessions.”
Then he said, “After serving you, I was given much more than I ever had before. I fear that wealth, honor, and nearness to power may lead me into pride and disobedience. So I return to that room again and again. I look at these old things and remember who I was.”
He continued, “I remind myself that whatever I have today is not mine by right. It came only through your favor, and it can pass away just as easily. Only after remembering this do I begin my work.”
What a lesson there is in this.
The danger is not only in having wealth. The greater danger is in forgetting. Forgetting where we came from. Forgetting Who gave us what we have. Forgetting how quickly position and comfort can disappear.
Ayaz understood that a human being does not remain safe merely by rising in the world. He remains safe by remembering. That old garmentand those worn slippers were more precious to him than treasure, because they protected his heart from arrogance.
How many people begin with humility, but lose it when doors open for them?
How many remember Allah in hardship, but forget Him in ease?
How many speak of gratitude, yet live as though what they possess came from themselves?
A reminder profits the believers because the believer’s heart is still alive. It may become distracted, but it has not died. It needs to be called back. It needs to be shown, once again, what is true.
Malik Ayaz kept a room not for treasure, but for remembrance.
Perhaps we too need such a room.
If not a room of walls and doors, then at least a place in the heart where we return often, lest we forget.
What is it that keeps us in a constant state of gratitude?
What is it that reminds us that all we have is temporary?
And when we begin to rise in the eyes of people, what will keep us small in our own eyes?
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