The sun was shining in the middle of the sky; it was as if the air was as hot as the sun itself. The servant stepped in to the alley and closed the door behind him. He was out to do what his lord had commanded him. He could not help thinking about his lord, the way he always ate the same food as he provided for the servants, wore the same clothes, his warm kindness, his humbleness before Allah, his worship … .

Hours passed and the work was not finished yet. The temperature was rising moment by moment and the heat was annoying him. Suddenly he noticed a shady spot under a wall, it was as if the shade was pulling him. He lied down under the wall. A warm, not cool, breeze was touching his dusty face. He was sweating all over, slowly his eyes were feeling heavier and heavier, and he fell sleep.

Minutes passed, he felt a cool breeze on his face, as if it was blowing from heaven, and it gently took away the heavy sleep from his eyes. He gradually opened his eyes, some one was slowly moving his cloak and causing the cool breeze.

He recognized the loving smile and the heart-touching voice of his lord who was kindly telling him that nights were for resting but days for working and serving … .

The servant quickly stood on his feet, he wanted to say that he was sorry and ashamed, that the heat had caused him to be neglectful, but it was as if his lips could not move.

Worried and ashamed, he looked at his lord's face, that ever-sweet smile was still on Imam Ja'far Saadeq's (PBUH) beautiful face. The servant wanted to say that it was that same loving smile and kind patience which had always made him feel secure and gave him a heavenly peace of mind but he still could not move his lips. So he just followed his lord … .

Do we consider ourselves the servants of our Allah-Appointed lord - he who is the final representative of Allah in this world, he who has the most beautiful smile on his loving face, he who cares for us more than we can ever care for ourselves, he whose serving is for our benefit not his, he who is always there, …? Have we realized that serving him should be our most important goal? Yes there are every day business which we must attend, but they should not become the goals themselves, rather the means to achieve our main goal. I.e. we should try to conform our life style -our choice of work, spouse, house, clothes, food, …- to the wishes of our lord and always obey him, then we may be on our way to Salvation. Of course in the path of obedience, we may feel the overwhelming and tiring heat from many directions, and temporary shades of ignorance and disobedience with warm and not soothing cool breezes, may pull us to themselves, but if we keep the heavenly peace of mind and security of our lord's loving touch in our minds and hearts, then we can go on serving and obeying his benevolent wishes, without getting tired and falling into heavy sleeps under the tall walls of negligence … .

And when we do make mistakes and fall sleep, it is the cool breeze of his loving touch which brings us back to the Path … .

O' our beloved Mahdi (Allah's Salaam be upon you)! We know that we have been forgetful and neglectful, we know that we have taken your love for granted and have fallen sleep and …, but still, it is your loving touch which we seek, we are sorry and ashamed, please ask Allah to forgive us, and encompass our hearts to serve and follow you … .