The Sufi Scientist

Human beings appear to be happy just so long as they have a future to which they can look forward - whether it be a "good time" tomorrow or an everlasting life beyond the grave. If happiness always depends on something expected in the future, we are chasing a will-o'-the-wisp that ever eludes our grasp, until the future, and ourselves, vanish into the abyss of death. But it has been possible to make the insecurity of human life supportable by belief in unchanging things beyond the reach of calamity - in God, in man's immortal soul, and in the government of the universe by eternal laws of right. Science may, slowly and uncertainly, give us a better future - for a few years. And then, for each of us, it will end. It will all end. However long postponed, everything composed must decompose. Despite some opinions to the contrary, this is still the general view of science. The modern scientist is not so naive as to deny God because he cannot be found with a telescope, or...

Alif allah naal ratta dil mera... Mainu 'be' di khabar na kaayi... 'Be' padheyan mainu samajh na aave... Lazzat alif di aayi... My heart is drenched in Alif Allah; I have no knowledge whatsoever of 'Be'. I read 'Be' and I fail to understand what it means; I relish only the bliss of Alif. *Explanation: Alif is the first letter of Arabic/Persian/Urdu script. It corresponds to the letter A in the English script and stands for unity, God, the truth (explained in text later). Be (pronounced 'bay') is the second letter of the Arabic/Persian/Urdu script. It corresponds to the letter B in the English script and is symbolic of all other than God. Alif symbolizes what was there when this world/universe did not exist. It also represents what will remain when the world/universe will no longer exist. It is what is constant, what was, is and always will be. In this verse Bulleh Shah says that the only thing he understands is Alif. He does not u...