S4E4 Four Ways Find The Purpose Of Life – The Blacksmith’s Story.

Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim, life can be overwhelming. Like being lost at sea. Sometimes, when this happens, we wonder where we are going. It can become very unsettling if we don't have a reason to keep going. The biggest reason is to know that you are here to try to do something good, that place your strengths, and pleases your God.

Here is a story about how Zed discovered his purpose.

Zed was on the outskirts of the small town where he lived. He was walking home from the center of town through a messy little St. in the artisan quarter, where lines of little workshops overflowed with stone, metal and wood, all the things that different artisans used for their work.

He was most fascinated by the blacksmith. He would often stop outside the workshop and stare inside, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness within

there. He would see some year the blacksmith all day, Samir would work in that intense heat near a furnace coming out of the dark. Only if someone would ask him to make something or buy one of his wares. It seemed like such a hard job. Samir was outside arranging some of his goods. And Zedd asked him, Why do you do what you do? I mean, it is the most difficult of all the jobs here. A pan cost the same as a humble leather belt. And yet the belt was probably far easier to make. And who makes the buckles for the belt came the reply from the blacksmith.

And he smiled. But yes, I know what you mean. I'm a blacksmith. I do it because part of me wants to. And part of me needs to

when I was a boy, I used to love going to see the horse races. But I was always concerned at how they could bear the weight of a person. They have such small hooves.

I asked my mother about it. And she told me it was because they wore horseshoes.

I thought to myself, it must be a very kind person who would make a shoe for an animal. And one day, I came with my mother to this very Street to this very shop in fact, and I noticed these horseshoes for sale.

And to my surprise, there was all manner of other things. pots, pans, knives and chains. My mother needed the pan but could not afford it. blacksmith my Brooke was not known to be very polite, or very talkative. But his kindness was underneath. He accepted the little money she had without any hesitation and the pleasure of knowing that she would use it to cook food for us that night outweighed his need to be paid immediately.

blacksmiths were kind of people I thought,

but my mother felt bad at his charity. So she offered to come back and clean his whole workshop as part of paying off her debt. But Mel Brooks said this was too dirty for a woman to do. So I cried out that I will do it. Mother agreed, and so did my group. And so after school, I went the next day and help clean his workshop. And while I was there, one of the shakes horsemen arrived with a horse that needed shoeing urgently, the shake was traveling to Albuquerque. The next morning, I saw the care and concern with which Millbrook treated the animal, soothing it and calming it as he measured its hooves. Then he said to work, and I was very excited. I asked to stay and watch him and he

agreed. He worked late into the night hammering and forging, hammering and forging. And the next morning, I ran back to the workshop just before school to see him in time dressing the horse in this new shoes.

I loved it so much that I asked if he would teach me.

He agreed. But then he told me it would take five years to learn his work. Five years just to learn something. Then he sat me down and asked me

why did you stay with me all yesterday? And I replied, because I wanted to see how you made the horseshoes. Do you remember what it was like? Yes, I loved every minute of it. I was mesmerized. You were bending hot metal from the very Earth itself. Hot. It was hot in here. He said. Well, I don't know. Yes, it must have been very hot. It's always hot in your shop. And then you laugh the big laugh. You see? You loved it. Of course it was hot in here. But you didn't feel the heat because you loved being here. This is why I agree for you to come. This is why five years will feel long for many people but not for you. And it was through this quiet and shy man had such love for God's

creatures and humanity and showed it through his work.

I forgot the heat. I forgot the coldest. It's as if I was in another space. So I started here, and it's been 20 years now. Sure, some days are hard. And occasionally I wonder how I put up with it. Not everyone is grateful. And not all animals are treated well. This is something I don't like to see.

But there are many reasons that draw me to this work. I love metal. I love bending it to my will to a graceful shape. It makes me feel close to God, knowing that I am using what he has given us to do something good. My wife Shaheen was in fact a customer once, who would want a tired, always dirty husband coming home late, covered in coal dust and burns. But she knew what she liked. And she decided that I was a good suitor.

Alhamdulillah things just kind of fell into place.

So I'm not reaching money. My pan doesn't cost a lot. But I am very wealthy in four ways. I have a love for what I do. I feel it is pleasing to God. The world needs me. And that led me to do something which I become skilled at. So here I am.

And with that, the voice of his wife Shaheen came out from within the workshop. Get ready for Maghreb, Samir

Samir turn to set and said, I have to go now to watch for prayers. Was there anything else you needed?

No. So it said shokran. And as that walked home, he was spellbound, who knew that the dirtiest most humble shop in the street had the richest happiest man in it? That night. Zedd also dreamt of making horseshoes.

Now, return to the app, and you will see a diagram which shows four circles. Look at each of the four circles, and fill in the four blanks.

What do you think are the four things that make your life meaningful?

Answer the questions afterwards. Because your answers will determine the next task you do.

The best answers will be put up in the community pages

in the exercise, I hope you all enjoy that. That was a taste of what kind of things will feature in the new app, which will be released in iOS and Android. It will be like an Islamic coaching and wellbeing app and it will feature everything from mental health to mindfulness to achieving our goals as Muslims to perfecting your Salah. The only thing that stands in the way of the app is funding and time. So you can help us by any of three ways. Firstly, buy a book. any of the books the links are found beneath this video. In particular, a book that is absolutely full with Zed and his adventures is called Voyage of the humble soul. It's about the young man's dead when he goes off on

Hajj and learns a number of life lessons and it's very beautifully written alongside a Nasheed writer kurumi soufiane and also the third word will cope and the instant insights and instant actions books are there of course. Secondly, drop us a donation to our GoFundMe page. And thirdly, like subscribe and share this video. Eventually our YouTube support and Instagram support will mean that future releases and books can be free inshallah. Okay, I look forward to making the next video for you. Leave your feedback underneath what Salaam