20. Abraham, Moses and Muhammad
20. 亞伯拉罕、摩西與穆罕默德

June 29, 1926

1926 年 6 月 29 日

Beloved Ones of God,

神所摯愛的人們：

Abraham is considered by the pious as the father of three great religions: of Christianity, of Judaism, and of Islam.

虔敬的人們將亞伯拉罕視為三大宗教之父：基督宗教、猶太教與伊斯蘭教。

The Old Testament stands as a backbone behind the New Testament. The Qu’ran is the interpretation of the Hebrew religion, and the Hebrew religion continued the message which was first given by Abraham. And therefore in these three religions there is the influence of this great master, of whom so little is known to the world. His initiation took place in the old school of Egypt; and when coming back from Egypt after his initiation he felt intuitively the place where his message was going to culminate, and was going to be a world message. In that place he put a stone, and that stone was called the Ka’ba. A stone which attracts thousands and millions of people for hundreds of years, where they go and offer their homage. A place which was visited with respect and reverence, with that sacred stone in view by the great prophet of Beni-Israel.

《舊約》如同《新約》背後的脊柱。《古蘭經》是對希伯來宗教的闡釋，而希伯來宗教則延續了最初由亞伯拉罕所帶來的訊息。因此，在這三個宗教之中，都有這位偉大聖師的影響，然而世人對他的了解卻如此之少。他是在古埃及的學派中接受啟蒙的；啟蒙之後，當他從埃及歸來時，他直覺地感受到一個地方，他的訊息將在那裡達到高峰，並成為傳向世界的訊息。他在那個地方放置了一塊石頭，那塊石頭被稱為克爾白（Ka’ba）。數百年來，這塊石頭吸引了成千上萬、乃至數以百萬計的人前去致敬。以色列子民（Beni-Israel）的偉大先知，也曾懷著尊敬與崇敬之心造訪此地，瞻仰那塊神聖的石頭。

Since this generation has so much to learn from the past traditions, it is not wise to overlook something that has been the foundation of religions. Abraham’s great mission was to take away the religion of superstition, and the religion of many gods. Abraham’s mission was to remove from the minds of the people the idea of (sun God) some God, and to establish in their minds the idea of the Infinite Being. Abraham was the great prophet; at the same time a teacher of esotericism, a great initiator and a mystic. There is much to be learned in the religion of Abraham about mysticism.

既然這個世代有如此多的事需要從過去的傳統中學習，那麼，忽略那些曾構成宗教根基的事物並不明智。亞伯拉罕偉大的使命，是去除迷信的宗教以及多神的宗教。亞伯拉罕的使命，是從人們的頭腦中移除對某一個神——例如太陽神——的觀念，並在他們的頭腦中建立對「無限存在者」的觀念。亞伯拉罕是一位偉大的先知；同時也是祕傳教導的老師、一位偉大的啟蒙者與祕士。在亞伯拉罕的宗教中，有許多關於祕學值得學習之處。

And the symbology of Abraham’s story of sacrifice is narrative of Sufi principle. The Sufis of the ancient school, which now exists in different parts of Asia, trace their origin from the time of Abraham, which makes a link of the Sufi school with the ancient school of Egypt. The story is that God asked Abraham, to test his devotion, that he must bring his son a sacrifice to God. And he obeyed, and he brought his son to the altar. And then they saw that instead of his son there was a sheep, and the son was standing on one side. Abraham thanked God for His great mercy, and at the same time passed through that test.

而亞伯拉罕獻祭故事中的象徵意義，正是在敘述一項蘇菲原則。古老學派的蘇菲，如今仍存在於亞洲不同地區，他們將自己的源流追溯到亞伯拉罕的時代；這使蘇菲學派與古埃及的古老學派連結起來。故事說，神為了考驗亞伯拉罕的奉獻，要求他將自己的兒子獻祭給神。他服從了，將兒子帶到祭壇上。然後他們看見，取代他兒子的卻是一隻羊，而他的兒子站在一旁。亞伯拉罕為神偉大的慈悲而感謝祂，同時也通過了這項考驗。

Today many will be very shocked at this story. In the first place they will say, “Why had God such a cruel test for His prophet, for His messenger, for the worker of humanity? To put him to such a terrible test. And what pleasure will God have by the death of His beloved son?” But that is another way of looking at it. To give all one has, even his son. In the path of God apart, have they not given their sons in the battlefield, the most devoted mothers and fathers, and wives and sisters and daughters? How much they have offered. And yet that was the thing to do when the moment came that the occasion demanded a sacrifice; they had to do it. If life asks for such sacrifice, it is not out of place, it is not to be surprised. The one who brings the message of God, one who teaches the path, shows the path of God, if of him great sacrifice is asked, it is not to be surprised.

今天，許多人聽到這個故事會非常震驚。首先，他們會說：「神為什麼要用如此殘酷的考驗來考驗祂的先知、祂的使者、為人類工作的人？為什麼要讓他承受如此可怕的考驗？而祂摯愛之子的死亡，又能帶給神什麼喜悅？」然而，這是從另一種角度來看這件事。一個人奉獻自己所擁有的一切，甚至包括自己的兒子。即使不談神的道路，那些最奉獻的母親與父親、妻子、姊妹與女兒，不也曾將自己的兒子送上戰場嗎？他們奉獻了多少！然而，當那個時刻來臨，情勢要求犧牲時，那就是他們必須做的事，他們不得不如此。若生命要求這樣的犧牲，那並不是不合情理的事，也不值得驚訝。一個帶來神之訊息的人、一個教導道路、指出神之道路的人，若被要求作出巨大的犧牲，也不足為奇。

But the story is one thing and the symbolism is another thing; it is a symbolism. The animal part of man is called Nafs; it is the false ego. And the human part of man is called Ruh; it belongs to the higher spheres. Man has two aspects. He is composed of two things: what he has borrowed from the earth, and what he has got from heaven. What is in him of heaven makes him human; what he has got of the earth is the animal part in man. What was asked of Abraham was to annihilate the Nafs of his son, to make him, to prepare him for the service of God. No one can serve God fully unless that part which is called Nafs, that material part, is crushed.

然而，故事是一回事，象徵意義又是另一回事；這是一個象徵。人之中的動物性部分稱為受限自我（Nafs）；它是虛假的自我。而人之中的人性部分稱為靈（Ruh）；它屬於更高的境域。人具有兩個面向。他由兩種事物所構成：一種是他從大地借來的，另一種是他從天上所得的。他之中來自天上的部分使他成為人；他從大地所得的，則是人之中的動物性部分。亞伯拉罕被要求的，是消融他兒子的受限自我，使他準備好為神服務。除非那個稱為受限自我的部分、那個物質性的部分被擊碎，否則沒有人能全然地服務神。

[譯註] Nafs 是蘇菲的重要術語，常指人之中受到欲望、慣性、物質性與分離感限制的自我層面。此處 Hazrat Inayat Khan 將它與 animal part、false ego、material part 相連，因此譯為「受限自我」，以避免「低我」所帶來的高低二元意味。Ruh 則指人的「靈」，屬於更高的存在境域，並在此與 Nafs 形成對照。

Therefore this sacrifice is a symbolism, a symbology, expressing the main object there is in developing the Sufi ideal, which is called Fana. Fana means annihilation, the annihilation of the false ego. That is the picture. This story is a lesson to every soul, that after one has annihilated one’s own false ego, then those who are devoted to him, those who give themselves in his guidance, to annihilate that part in them, in order that the real life may manifest to its fullness.

因此，這個獻祭是一種象徵，一種象徵性的表達，呈現出發展蘇菲理想時最主要的目標，也就是所謂的消融（Fana）。消融所指的是虛假自我的消失與消融。這就是這幅圖像所呈現的意義。這個故事給每一個靈魂的教導是：一個人在消融了自己的虛假自我之後，也要幫助那些奉獻於他、將自己交付於他的引導之下的人，消融他們內在的那個部分，好讓真實的生命能夠完整地顯現。

[譯註] Fana 是蘇菲修行的重要術語，字面具有「消失、消滅、滅除」之意，在蘇菲語境中主要指虛假自我與分離性自我意識的消融。此處譯為「消融」，以呈現自我界線逐漸消失、讓更真實的生命顯現之意，而非人格遭到摧毀。

The message of Moses was of the greatest importance, especially at the time when it was brought. The people were far away from order and peace. There was avariciousness, there was greediness, there was falsehood, there was great treachery; one killed another, just in a little quarrel. At that time what was most necessary was not only a form of worship or a message of wisdom, what was most necessary was the divine law. And it was a most difficult thing to make people abide by the law. If it was not the prophet’s message it would not have been easy to make that law known. Besides, during all different civilizations, the law of Moses has been behind them. Their laws were constructed on the law of Moses, the standard of righteousness was built on the message which Moses gave.

摩西的訊息具有極大的重要性，尤其是在它被帶來的那個時代。當時的人們離秩序與和平非常遙遠。那裡有貪婪、有貪欲、有虛假，也有極大的背叛；人們只因一點小小的爭執，就會殺死彼此。那時最需要的，不只是一種敬拜的形式，也不只是一個智慧的訊息；最需要的是神聖的律法。而要使人們遵守律法，是極為困難的事。如果這不是先知所帶來的訊息，要使人們認識這項律法就不會那麼容易。此外，在各種不同文明的背後，都有摩西律法的影響。它們的法律是在摩西律法的基礎上建立的，而正義的標準，也是建立在摩西所帶來的訊息之上。

Today there is a tendency to say, “But the law is different; but kindness is different.” But there must be a law. If there was only kindness, where would the world end? We cannot only live on water, we need food also. Only kindness cannot suffice the purpose, the law is necessary. If not, today, the world as it is, people would be very glad to have no law at all. But at the same time, what difference is there between the law that a prophet gives and the law that man makes? In America, since the law has been made that people must not drink, they say people drink more than they have ever done before. Paper has given it to them, not the prophet. This makes a difference between the dead law and the living law. And there comes the dead law from the paper; people look at the paper and then shut the book and go on doing whatever they like; they do not care for it.

今天有一種傾向會說：「但律法是一回事，仁慈又是另一回事。」然而，律法是必須存在的。如果只有仁慈，這個世界最後會變成什麼樣子？我們不能只靠水生活，我們也需要食物。單有仁慈不足以達成目的，律法也是必要的。否則，以今日世界的情況而言，人們恐怕會非常樂於完全沒有任何律法。但同時，先知所帶來的律法，與人所制定的法律之間，有什麼不同？在美國，自從制定法律禁止人們飲酒之後，據說人們反而比以往任何時候喝得更多。那是紙張把法律帶給他們，而不是先知。這就是死的法律與活的律法之間的差別。死的法律來自紙張；人們看看紙上的法律，然後把書闔上，繼續做自己想做的任何事；他們根本不在乎。

Now we come to the life of Muhammad. He said to his people, “Never touch liquor.” They have obeyed for many centuries. And some who would like to have a glass hide themselves. They do not want to give the example to the others. And next day they say, “Toba, toba,” which means, “God forbid.” They are very sorry, they are ashamed of themselves. They do not stand and say, “We do not care for the law the Prophet has given.” They don’t say, “We like to drink.” Never. They say, “We are sorry.” They will go on drinking perhaps all their life, but at the same time never with that boldness, that “What do I care, let them keep the law in the court.” Never. It is the sacred law, and they take it as sacred.

現在我們來談穆罕默德的一生。他對他的人民說：「絕不要碰酒。」幾個世紀以來，他們一直遵守著。有些人若想喝上一杯，會躲起來喝。他們不願為別人立下這樣的榜樣。到了第二天，他們會說：「Toba, toba」，意思是「但願神不許這樣的事。」他們非常懊悔，也為自己感到羞愧。他們不會站出來說：「我們才不在乎先知所帶來的律法。」他們不會說：「我們就是喜歡喝酒。」絕不會。他們會說：「我們很抱歉。」也許他們會一輩子繼續喝酒，但他們絕不會帶著那種公然無視的態度說：「我管它呢，讓那些法律留在法庭裡吧。」絕不會。對他們而言，那是神聖的律法，他們也將它視為神聖。

The time when Prophet Muhammad was destined to give God’s message, at that time Arabs fought at every little thing. If there was a hot discussion, at once daggers were taken out. One Arab killed another Arab in a moment’s time, for nothing; life meant nothing. And if anyone spoke to them against their belief, their religion, that they would never support. In that time the Prophet had to give the new message. People say, “Why did the Prophet make use of the sword?” But who could have lived without a sword at that time? It was not the time of Buddha, nor the people among whom Buddha went. The Arabs were different people. They would never have heard a message of kindness.

當先知穆罕默德注定要帶來神的訊息時，阿拉伯人會為了每一件小事而爭鬥。只要爭論一激烈，匕首立刻就會拔出來。一個阿拉伯人可以在瞬間為了微不足道的事殺死另一個阿拉伯人；生命毫無分量。若有人說了反對他們信仰或宗教的話，他們更是絕不容忍。在那樣的時代，先知必須帶來新的訊息。人們說：「為什麼先知要使用劍？」但在那個時代，有誰能夠不用劍而活下來？那並不是佛陀的時代，而那些人也不是佛陀所前往教導的人們。阿拉伯人是完全不同的民族。他們根本不會聽取一個關於仁慈的訊息。

They did not know what kindness meant. Besides, all the imagery that the Prophet has given to his people, the people were of that particular evolution. He could not have told them about the soul’s greatness and a natural evolution. He had to tell them, when they said, “What is paradise, what is its life?” he had to tell them, streams of honey and fountains and milk they will find in Paradise. Because honey and milk to them was dearer than wisdom. He had to frighten them with the fire of hell; if not, they were ready to fight. But imagine that the words of the Prophet could fight with swords. What can be a greater miracle? It is not true that the Prophet always used his sword. The sword has in the cover. It was the Prophet’s personality which won. No one but a soldier would have made impression on those people, who were ready to fight; who showed himself to be one among them, and at the same time God’s messenger, together with the courage and bravery and strength and power that the Prophet showed.

他們不知道仁慈意味著什麼。此外，先知向他的人民所使用的一切意象，也都是因應那些人當時特定的發展程度。他無法向他們談靈魂的偉大，以及自然的進化歷程。當他們問：「天堂是什麼？那裡的生活是怎樣的？」他必須告訴他們，在天堂裡會有蜜之河流、泉水與乳汁。因為對他們而言，蜂蜜與乳汁比智慧更加珍貴。他必須以地獄之火令他們畏懼；否則，他們隨時準備爭鬥。然而，想想看，先知的言語竟能與刀劍抗衡。還有什麼比這更大的奇蹟呢？說先知總是在使用他的劍，並不是真的。劍是在鞘中的。真正贏得人心的是先知的人格。對那些隨時準備戰鬥的人而言，除了像一名戰士的人之外，沒有人能在他們心中留下深刻印象；他讓自己顯現為他們之中的一員，同時又是神的使者，並展現出先知所具有的勇氣、英勇、力量與能力。

The charm of Prophet’s personality was so great, his tenderness, his gentleness, the mildness was so great. Once his pupils said to the Prophet, “This man who came here, he always talked against you, Prophet, and he is always working against you. He is not worth anything. Why did you rise when he came?” He said, “Did you not know he had a grey hair in his beard?” That consideration, that thoughtfulness, even to his enemies. When the daughter of the Prophet was killed by an accident, but the Arab was responsible for it, what the Prophet’s heart must be saying at that time, when his most beloved daughter was killed, when the Arab was brought the Prophet said, “I forgive you; God be with you.”

先知人格的魅力是如此巨大；他的溫柔、和善與柔和，也是如此深厚。有一次，他的學生對先知說：「先知啊，剛才來的這個人總是在說你的壞話，也一直在反對你。他根本不值得你這樣對待。為什麼他來的時候，你還要起身迎接他？」他回答：「難道你們沒有看見，他的鬍鬚裡已經有了白髮嗎？」即使對待敵人，他仍有這樣的體貼與顧念。當先知的女兒因一場意外而死亡，而那名阿拉伯人對此負有責任時，可以想像，在他最摯愛的女兒死去的那一刻，先知心中會有怎樣的感受。當那名阿拉伯人被帶到他面前時，先知說：「我原諒你；願神與你同在。」

The Prophet’s manner was so gentle with people that one day (every day when he used to go to offer his prayers in the mosque a woman who was very antagonistic wished to throw garbage on the Prophet, every day, and he used to shake the dust off his robe; he never looked back, he never stopped) but one day the dust was not thrown on him. That day he went to the house and knocked at the door, and the man came and said, “Is you wife very well?” The man looked at the Prophet, and said, “She has been so bad and so unkind against you, and called you so many names, how have you come?” “I have never taken any notice of it, only today I thought she has not appeared; is she well?” That was his manner with his enemies.

先知待人的態度是如此溫和。有一個女人對他極為敵視，每天當他前往清真寺禮拜時，她都會把垃圾丟在先知身上；而他總只是把袍子上的塵土抖掉，從不回頭，也從不停下腳步。但有一天，沒有東西丟到他身上。那天，他走到那戶人家敲門，一名男子出來，他便問：「你的妻子還好嗎？」那人看著先知，說：「她對你如此惡劣、如此不友善，又用那麼多難聽的話罵你，你怎麼還會來這裡？」先知說：「我從來沒有把那些事放在心上，只是今天想到她沒有出現，所以想知道她是否安好。」這就是他對待敵人的方式。

And there are many disciples of that nature: a hundred times they came to him, a hundred times they ran away. Every time they came again, even after having fought with him, and he received them with open arms, saying, “You are my own.”

而且，有許多門徒也是如此：他們來到他身邊一百次，又逃離他一百次。每一次他們再回來，即使曾經與他作對，他仍張開雙臂接納他們，說：「你們是我的人。」

In the end there was an opportunity given for him to be the king of Hijaz. He was the conqueror, conqueror of his own people. They had none among them so great and good; they all wished, they considered it their greatest privilege and honor, to have of them their sultan. The Prophet refused; the wealth of the earth was nothing to him. His whole life was given to the cause of humanity, to the work of God. The day when he conquered, the enemies were brought, especially those who had killed his relatives, his pupils, his most devoted disciples, those who worked shoulder to shoulder with him and saved his life with many difficulties, who had opposed the Prophet in every way for many years, throwing him out of his country three times in his life, putting out every one of his followers, and giving no opportunity for him to spread his message in his own country.

最後，他曾有機會成為漢志 (Hijaz) 之王。他是征服者，是征服了自己人民的人。在他們之中，沒有任何人像他這般偉大而良善；所有人都希望他成為他們的蘇丹，並認為能由他擔任蘇丹，是他們最大的殊榮與榮耀。然而先知拒絕了；世間的財富對他而言毫無意義。他的一生全都奉獻給人類的志業、奉獻給神的工作。在他取得勝利的那一天，敵人被帶到他面前，尤其是那些曾殺害他的親人、他的學生、他最奉獻的門徒的人——那些門徒曾與他並肩工作，歷經重重困難保全他的生命。那些敵人多年來以各種方式反對先知，一生之中三度將他逐出自己的國土，驅逐他的每一位追隨者，不給他任何機會在自己的國家傳播他的訊息。

And in the end he is the conqueror, and those people are brought before him. And when there was a question what to do with them he said, “God forgive them.” That is all. “I forgive you, my brothers.” The humanity is never too evolved to follow that principle, the principle of forgiveness, to forgive one’s bitterest enemies. The Prophet was an example, an example of the art of humanity, the art of personality. Both sides of nature, Jelal and Jemal, equally balanced: ready to handle the sword, ready to defend his country, toil on the land, march like a soldier, take interest in the affairs of the nation; and meditative of such a great, kind, and wonderful capacity that he would go in the forest and live there without food for months and months, meditating and communicating with his Lord, living in the midst of the world, proving not to be of the world.

而最後，他成了征服者，那些人被帶到他面前。當大家問應當如何處置他們時，他說：「願神原諒他們。」就只是如此。「我的弟兄們，我原諒你們。」人類永遠不會進化到不再需要遵循這項原則——寬恕的原則，寬恕自己最深的仇敵。先知是一個典範，是做人藝術與人格藝術的典範。他本性中的兩個面向——威嚴（Jelal）與柔美（Jemal）——保持著同等的平衡：他隨時準備拿起劍，準備保衛自己的國家，在土地上勞動，像士兵一樣行軍，關心國家的事務；同時，他又具有如此深邃、仁慈而非凡的冥想能力，能走入荒野，數月又數月幾乎不進食地住在那裡，冥想並與他的主交流；他生活在世界之中，卻顯明自己並不屬於這個世界。

[譯註] Jelal 與 Jemal 是蘇菲傳統中一對彼此互補的重要概念。Jelal 指向神性中的威嚴、力量、尊威與令人敬畏的一面，因此譯為「威嚴」；Jemal 的核心義為「美」，並包含溫柔、慈愛、和善、優雅與吸引力，因此譯為「柔美」。此處 Hazrat Inayat Khan 以兩者說明先知人格中力量與溫柔並存、彼此平衡的狀態。

It is that impression which has conquered the followers of the Prophet. If by the sword they had been converted, today they would have been indifferent to him. There is no influence of the sword just now. It was not the sword, it was charm of personality, kindness of spirit, that even today hundreds and thousands of Muslims, when you mention the name of the Prophet, their eyes bring tears, nothing else in the world then manifests before them than the picture of the Prophet.

正是這樣的印象征服了先知的追隨者。如果他們當初真是被刀劍所迫而歸信，那麼今天他們早已對他漠不關心。如今刀劍已經沒有任何影響力。真正發生作用的並不是刀劍，而是人格的魅力與靈性的仁慈；直到今天，成百上千的穆斯林，只要你一提起先知的名字，他們的眼中便會湧出淚水，那一刻，世上再沒有其他事物顯現在他們眼前，只有先知的形象。

This shows that every time when the message of God has been given to the world, there was a certain peculiarity in the way it was presented to the world because every messenger was made fit for his own time, and his message suited to that particular time. But behind it all there is one Truth, and one Divine Wisdom in all religions; and it is to spread that Divine Wisdom throughout the world that the Sufi Message has been destined.

這顯示，每一次神的訊息被帶到世上時，它呈現在世界面前的方式，都有其特定的特色，因為每一位使者都是為自己的時代而預備的，而他的訊息也適合那個特定的時代。然而，在這一切背後，所有宗教之中都存在著同一個真理、同一個神聖智慧；而蘇菲訊息所被賦予的使命，正是將這神聖智慧傳遍全世界。

God Bless You.

願神祝福你們。

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