The quality of being humane is the most perfect and sublime attribute and is an indispensible necessity to make life fruitful and productive. It ensures prosperity and success, and the lack of it causes selfishness and a lowering of principles and manners which ultimately leads to endless failure and destructive loss. It is by loving God and feeling happiness in drawing near to His Presence: it is in loving a fellow human and soothing their loneliness, it is the heart pulsating with goodness and charity for the whole of mankind.
From the early years of his childhood and during his youth, this revered man, M. A. Sheikho, held all the attributes of real humanity in his heart and conduct. He was really and truly a man in the full sense of the word that expresses the absolute (abstract) reality of Al’lah’s Aim in calling his creatures into being in order for them to attain His Satisfaction.
What extraordinary level of humaneness did this honourable man possess, even as a boy, that he was able to understand and empathise with the desperate plight of his widowed mother? Shortly after his father left this worldly life he realised, despite his tender years, that his mother could not earn money to give him the generous amounts of pocket money that his father had done. When considering this fact with his matchless and profound intuition, he decided to refuse the lavish amounts of pocket money which he was previously accustomed to receive from his father! He overcame the normal childhood wish to have plenty of pocket money, and preferred to go without for more than ten years, due to his clemency towards his mother, the poor widow; and rather than place an added burden on her he asked her for no pocket money whatsoever, not even the smallest amount: something which she found most strange!
She often felt sad for him and offered him money, despite the fact that he did all that he could to make her believe that he did not need it even though he had previously received daily pocket money far in excess of anything received by any of the children of the neighbourhood, from which he used to spend lavishly on his friends, buying them treats and giving them gifts.
Surely this is humaneness in one of its highest senses! He was just a little child in years, only seven… but displaying all the wisdom of a grown man who fully understood and sympathised with the situation and condition of his mother, the wretched widow, so that he denied himself all the usual treats and sweets that children normally like to have. This compassionate child revealed yet another side of his benevolence and understanding when, still just seven years of age, he refused to eat any foods that were costly and everything else that would have created an added financial burden for a poor family… he even refused to eat meat!
Through her concern and love for him his mother would ask, ‘Oh, my dear child! What would you like me to cook today?’
Invariably he would ask for something simple but nourishing, ‘An omelette please, Mummy… salad… or kushkeh![83] I love lentil soup too, it’s delicious!’ He always replied in this way telling her how much he liked food that was not expensive to buy or complicated to prepare.
‘Oh my darling child… wouldn’t you like some meat?’ his mother would ask.
‘No Mother, I don’t like it any more!’
And so he remained true to his decision to help his mother in the best way he knew, and that was to make the sacrifice and deny himself many of the things he liked… for the next ten years!
At the age of seventeen he graduated as an officer from
Amber College[84] and was appointed to the position of security officer. As soon as he received his first salary he set off immediately for the market and having made a variety of purchases he went home carrying delicious foodstuffs…meat, fruits, sweets… all the tasty things that he and his mother had gone without for ten long years. And he lost no time in taking home his purchases where he asked his mother to cook the meat he had brought her.
She was astonished and said, ‘But, my beloved son! I thought that you didn’t like meat.’ With his great sense of kindness and humanity he explained to his beloved mother that he did not like it when the price was too high for her purse, yet now it had become affordable because he had received his first salary as an officer.
Thus, he had demonstrated endless patience, the patience normally attributed to older men of great wisdom, and the true sensitivity of a superior mind and matchless human genius. Truly he had borne much deprivation for ten long years, with great patience, and achieved the highest levels of compassion. He was a real man both during difficult times and times of ease, a human being who sympathised with others, discerning their condition more than they did themselves!
Therefore how would he not be superior to all those around him and all his contemporaries? How would he not gain the love and respect of all those whose lives he touched as he went forth displaying his glorious humane conduct, treating the whole of creation with charity, friendship, mercy and compassion in their fullest sense.
A perfect example of Mohammad Amin’s high level of humanity occurred when he was an officer serving in the security services of the state of al-Sham.[85]There was one particular officer who remained constantly by his side for long years, during which he experienced much of his humanity and unmatched benevolence he participated in some of his actions and witnessed his high levels of honour, purity, chastity, and compassion. This particular gendarme was so fond of his master and chief… wishing to stay by his side day and night and to carry out his every command for he felt his humaneness in the depths of his own spirit, which overwhelmed him with compassion, cordiality, tenderness and goodwill.
Due to his wholehearted love for this humane officer, Mohammad Amin, he enjoyed the most agreeable and happiest moments of his life when he was serving under this honourable leader. So if he found that his officer was tired he would stop whatever he was doing to massage his pure feet… such was his reverence for the officer that he would even have kissed his feet, though he was well aware that his master would be angry if he did, as he had been warned against it several times. However, it was meant only with the best of intentions for he was completely drawn to his master’s exceptional benevolence and compassion, and he became exceedingly fond of his great and pure heart.
Once, during a lengthy battle in World War I, Mohammad Amin was extremely thirsty; within his view, there were fields of watermelons but they were clearly some distance from the front-line and unfortunately, they were beyond the enemy lines. In addition there was no drinking water as the enemy was between a spring of fresh water and the Turkish forces. The mere sight of those fruits only served to increase his thirst and his craving and he said, ‘If only the enemy were not in that position we could quench our thirst with a delicious, juicy melon.’ He had expressed these words merely as wishful thinking because of the heat and his raging thirst and, he did not expect them to be realised.
Several hours had passed, when to his great surprise Officer Mohammad Amin looked up to find his kindly gendarme before him carrying a large, juicy melon.
‘Here you are… Sir! I hope this will quench your thirst!’
Oh! What is this great affection? What amazing inspiration had the gendarme received from his leader which had liberated him from his own self-love and egotism to become such a humane individual? It was through loving his lord, that revered man who had such empathy with all others and tried to make them happy though he might sacrifice his own comfort and even his life. For, truly, ‘Man is a slave to charity.’
Indeed, that loyal gendarme placed his own life in severe danger when he decided to go behind the enemy’s front lines to reach the fields where the melons were growing; then he picked one and sneaked back along the same way across the enemy’s lines not caring about his own safety or life, dodging enemy fire, ending his devoted adventure only when he stood before his master and put the delicious fruit into his hands.
It was clear that all of Mohammad Amin’s colleagues and peers, and all those who dealt and lived with him, held him in their hearts, feeling nothing but the greatest love and affection for him. This came about because of the peerless humanity with which he carried out his eternal glorious deeds so that he attained God’s Satisfaction and sublime love, apart from the great love and satisfaction of all those who knew him.