In the country you see the glory of God
August 18, 2013 Comments Off on In the country you see the glory of God
In the country you see the glory of God; in the city you glorify His name.
Bowl of Saki, August 14, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
From Sigoli, where the train journey ends, [Inayat and his father] had six days journey through the forest. This was a new experience to a soul who wanted to breathe a breath of freedom from the crowd and to whom nature was not only appealing but uplifting. … Inayat’s enjoyment was boundless. For the first time in his life there came to him the realization of the saying: “The city was made by man and the country was made by God.”
The solitude of the forest, the sounds of the birds that one never feels nor hears in the crowd, the trees standing in stillness for hundreds of years, a place never occupied by man, gave him a feeling of that calm and peace that every soul longs for, consciously or unconsciously. This journey was a kind of answer to the cry of his soul. He felt in the sphere a welcome and blessing given by the long standing trees, venerable in age and appearance. He saw the hand of God blessing in every bending branch. He pictured his hands in the branches that stretched upwards, hands constantly praying and asking for blessing from above.