I should like to speak this evening on the subject, "Call from Above." This subject is no doubt in connection with the Message, but at the same time it can be understood by understanding the nature of everyday life.

We read in the Qu'ran that, "Nothing moves, even an atom, without the command of God."

In other words, there is only one power that moves things and beings towards a certain purpose, and that power is the source of the different degrees of strength which we see in different persons. And it is by that power that everything that happens is accomplished. Therefore it would not be an exaggeration if I quoted a poet before you who says that, "God speaks to every man, but every man does not listen to the word of God." This deafness of the heart is a natural outcome of our life in the world. If by the help of meditation we raise the heart to a certain pitch, then the word of God becomes manifest.

To have the clear idea of this subject one may study it in the Hebrew scriptures, where it is said in two different ways. It is said that God spoke to Jacob, that God spoke to Abraham, that God spoke to Moses. And in the other form it is said that the angel Gabriel brought the Message of God to Moses. These are two different forms in which it is put. In one form it is said, "God spoke to the prophet." That form is a plain form, that when the heart of the prophet was lifted and was raised to that pitch where it can hear the Word of God, it heard the Word of God. The idea of an angel bringing the Message of God is more symbolical.

It is easier for man to understand an angel bringing the Message than God speaking directly. As soon as one says, "God spoke," then a person says, "Has God lips to speak, has He then a form, is He then like a human being, is He then an entity, separate from our being?" And if these questions were answered, "Yes, it is so," that means that every possibility of a person coming to the understanding of God was covered by a pacifying answer. But if it is said, "An angel brought the Message," then people begin to think, "Yes, it is an entity who brought the Message." The postman could come from God to the earth and bring the Message. It's just like saying a dove brought a letter. One can quite understand that a dove could fly and bring a letter.

Besides, for a mystic, for the prophet, God is not only a person of his belief, nor for him is God an abstract Being, as for a cold philosopher. For a mystic God is everything, God is as much abstract as He is a person. It is in this person of God, which has become a reality to a mystic, that the Message of truth comes.

But it is not an easy thing to make a God of imagination and make out of Him a reality. For every person it is like making an idol, a statue, and trying to make the statue live. The other thing is even more difficult than making the statue live.

But if ever anyone has reached God, he has not reached by finding God in the abstract, something where nothing is to be found. But he had to make God, and then through that God, which was once made, that God of abstract spoke. This was the vehicle through which God gave His Message.

In other words, electricity is all over, everywhere. In order to bring it to manifestation it was necessary to produce dense material to attract it, and to bring about that light. In order to make the abstract God speak, one has to make first a vehicle; that is the form of God of which the prophets spoke.

There is a saying of Sa'adi that, "Everyone is this world is born for a certain purpose, and the light of that purpose is kindled in his soul."

Prophetic message therefore is distinct, and it has its definite work to accomplish.

Now the difference between God's Message is as powerful as God Himself, as living as God Himself, as expanding as God Himself, and as fulfilling of its Purpose on earth as God Himself. What the servants of the Sufi Message, who have joined together hand in hand to render service in time of need to humanity, must not for one moment think is, "How could a handful of people be able to fulfill the service for which they are called?" If according to the scriptures as we read, "God commenced the human race with two persons first: Adam and Eve;" if that is possible, this is possible also. We are more than that. If ever any Message that was intended for the welfare of humanity has ever grown even as great and as wide as the world, it has begun with one or two or three persons.

It never began with hundreds and thousands. But the number of persons was not to be considered; it was the power that was behind it, that was the mystery behind it all. Our confidence and trust in the Sufi Message must strengthen us to stand firm in the service of God and humanity, and never let ourselves be discouraged by the lack of things that everyone experiences in this limited world, always keeping before us God and His Perfection. He calls us to render our service to our fellowmen, sincerely and earnestly, without doubt, without fear, in the little way we can. It is by this method that we shall be able to do our duty.

And now the question of those who work with us. Sometimes we see their errors, their faults, their limitations. But at the same time we see their merits, their virtues, their goodness. The best thing is to overlook the other part, not be discouraged by it, not be dissatisfied by it, with a hope that in the end all will be well, since it is a service which is intended for humanity at large. We must keep before our view that high ideal, that great ideal, instead of thinking of the little faults and errors of our brothers and sisters in the Movement. For we all have limitations, and since we are human beings we an expect to be tolerated, to be forgiven. We ourselves must do it; when we forgive, then others forgive us.

It is a harmonious cooperation in the work that is needed. And it is in the Sufi Movement that we must practice tolerance and forgiveness towards one another. It is in our Movement that we must practice sympathy and forget antipathy, to throw it away when it comes. When among ourselves we shall make a real brotherhood, naturally we shall be able to give the example to others, not in word but in action. We need not be discouraged, we need not be hopeless, whatever may be the condition.

For we must know that we have before us a high ideal, a great ideal to accomplish. And even the least little service that we can render to the Cause will be our satisfaction. God Bless You.