Jesus (“Isa”), saw a donkey that was dead.
What do you see in a donkey after he has been dead for five days? You see rotten, smelly meat.
Isa asked his companions, “What do you see in this picture?”
They couldn’t even smell or look. Was this a beautiful image for a picture?
“What do you see in this picture?”
No one could look. They closed their eyes. They did not want to smell it.
Jesus (Isa) said, “How beautiful it is. How beautiful its teeth are.”
The people thought it was terrible, with terrible teeth. They thought, “How horrible!”
Isa said, “How beautiful this picture is.”
Jesus (Isa) did not stay with the picture or with the name. He did not stay with the metaphor. He moved, he passed through to the realm of the divine attributes, and he saw the divine name, al-Muhyi, the One who gives life. He said this to his companions, speaking of his protector and owner, Allah who is never absent.
He said to the donkey, “Rise up by the permission of Allah. Stand up right now.”
So the donkey stood up and started to make the sound of a donkey.
Isa said, “How beautiful his voice is.”
Jesus was an eyewitness to the realm of beauty because he did not stop with the shadow – the name donkey or the metaphorical picture. Right away, he stood with the attribute, al-Hayy, the Alive. He stood directly with his Lord, protector and owner, Allah. This is the true life of the eye witnessing of the Reality of the Truth.
~Excerpt from Sidi’s teaching in the The Religion of Unity
