roofs) he said: Ah me! would that I had not associated anyone with my Lord. He had none to help him besides Allah nor could he defend himself.
In Allah, alone is protection, the True One. In the bestowal of reward and in requital he is best.
Set forth to them also the parable of the life in this world. It is like the water which we send down from the clouds on account of which the herbs become luxuriant. Then these become dry, break into pieces and the winds scatter them. Allah holds power over all things. Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world. The good works, the ever-abiding, are with your Lord better in reward than in expectation”.[48] How fleeting are our worldly gains, and how foolish are we in feeling proud of them! Let us then, live as meek and humble servants of God on earth.
FRIENDSHIP AND SINCERITY[49] Friendship is one of God’s favours, says the Quran. And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited, and remember the favour of Allah on you when you were enemies, then He united your marts so by His favour you became brethren[50]. The Prophet says: Those amongst you are my close companions who have good dispositions, are affectionate and tenderly love each other. And again: “God when He shows His kindness towards any person gives him a Good friend.”[51] “Verily God will say on the day of resurrection where are those who loved each other for my sake; today they shall rest under my shelter when there is no other shelter.”[52] “Seven kinds of men will, on the Day of Judgment, rest under His shelter when there will be no other shelter:—(1) A just Imam, (2) An adult who is devoted to God, (3) A man who after coming out from the mosque finds his heart attached to it till he enters again, (4) Two friends who lived and died in their friendship for God’s sake, (5) He who for fear of the Lord wept in secret, (6) He whom a beautiful woman of good birth allures but he replies: I have fear of my Lord, (7) He who gives alms in a manner that his left hand does not know what is given by his right hand.”[53] Friendship, then, is God’s favour and should be cultivated for His sake.
But if we shun the company of our fellowmen let it also be for God’s sake. “The strongest rope of Faith”, says the Prophet, “is love and hate both for God’s sake.”
Christ says, “Love God by avoiding the wicked; seek His nearness by shunning their company and please Him by courting their displeasure.”
“With whom should we keep company, O Word of God”, asked the people. And Christ replied, “Sit with those whose appearance reminds you of God, whose words add to the stock of your knowledge and whose actions serve as an incentive for acquiring the kingdom of Heaven.”
God spoke to Moses saying, “Son of Amran be up and find out a friend for thee and he who would not be with thee for my good will is thy enemy.”
Choose a friend who has five qualities viz: wisdom, good disposition, abstinence from sin, heresy and greed.
A fool’s company gives no good, it ends in gloom. Good disposition is necessary in as much as a man may be wise but be subservient to his inordinate passion and hence unfit for company. And a sinner and a heretic are to be avoided for the simple reason that they who have no fear of the Lord and are regardless of committing forbidden actions are not to be relied on. Besides contagion will secretly spread and he too will think of sin lightly and gradually lose power of resisting it. And a greedy worldling is to be avoided because his company will deaden the heart in the quest of the kingdom of Heaven.
Alkama on his death bed gave a fine description of a friend. “My son”, said he, “If you wish to keep company try to find out such a friend who, when you live with him defends you, adds to your prestige, bears the load of your hardships, helps you in your doings, counts your virtues, dissuades you from vices, readily responds to your requests, inquires himself for your needs when you keep quiet, shows his deep sympathy in your sufferings, bears witness to your sayings, gives good advice when you intend to do some work and prefers you to his own self when difference arises between you and him.” This piece of advice gives the qualities of a friend in a nutshell. When Caliph Mamun the Abbaside heard of it, he said, “Where should we find such a friend”. And Yahya replied, “Alkama’s description means that we should live in retirement.”
Imam Jafar ‘Assadiq’ (the veracious) gives a negative description of a friend. “Do not keep company with five sorts of men viz: a false man who deceives you like a mirage; a fool who cannot benefit you, (even if he tries to do so he would do harm through his foolishness;) a miser who when you need his help the most, severs himself from you; a coward who will leave you when you are in danger; a wicked sinner who will sell you for a piece of bread.”
Sahl of Taster says, “Avoid the company of 3 kinds of men, (1) tyrants who forget God, (2) Ulamas who practise dissimulation, (3) Sufis who are ignorant.”
It must be remembered here that the above passages serve as an ideal but for purposes we should look to the present practical conditions and try to get as much good as may be had from them. For man’s life seems dreary when he has no friends. And men are like trees. Some are fruit-bearing and shady, some are shady only and some are mere thorns and thistles.
Similarly some friends are a blessing both here and hereafter; some are for worldly gain for the world is a shadow, and some are of no good in this world and the next as if they are scorpions in human form.
“And they were not enjoined anything except that they should serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience, upright, and keep up prayer and pay the poor rate (zakat) and that is the right religion”.[54] “Then serve God, being sincere in religion unto Him, Aye, God’s is the sincere religion”. Musab says that his father Saad was considering himself superior to other poor and destitute companions of the Prophet.
“God”, said the Prophet, “has helped my people with my poor and humble followers’ prayer and sincerity.”[55] “Sincere action,” says the Prophet “even if it be little will suffice for thee.”[56] The following saying of the Prophet is reported by Abu Huraira: “Three persons shall be questioned first on the day of resurrection. One will be the learned man who would be asked as to what he had done with his learning”. “Day and night,” the learned man will reply “I tried my best to propagate it, O Lord”. “Thou speakest falsely”, God will answer and the angels will also join with him. “Thy sole aim was to be called a learned man by the people, and the title was thine”. The second will be the rich man who would be asked about his riches. “Day and night”, the rich man will reply, “I gave it in charity.” “Thou speaker of untruth”, God and his angels will say. “Thou wishest to be labelled a generous man, and it was done”. The third will be the martyr who too will be asked about his deed.
“O Lord”, the martyr will reply, “Thou didst command us to wage Holy war (Jehad), I obeyed thee and fell fighting”. “Thou liest,” God and His angels will answer. “Thy aim was to be trumpeted as a hero and it was done”. “Then,” says Abu Huraira, “the Prophet after finishing the sermon pressed me and said: These three would be the first to be thrown into the flames of hell”.
In the narratives of the Israelites, a story is told of a certain devotee who had served God for many years. Once he was informed of the apostacy of a tribe, which, forsaking the true worship of Yahweh had taken to tree worship. The hermit filled with the spirit of the “jealous” God took an axe and set out to level the tree to the earth. But the devil in the shape of an old man met him on the way and inquired of his intention.
The hermit told him of his determination, whereupon Satan addressed him thus: “Why on earth are you leaving aside your prayers and vigils and devoting yourself to other work!” “But this too is a sacred cause” replied hermit. “No, nor will I allow you to do so” exclaimed the devil.
Whereupon the hermit in the white heat of his pious rage caught hold of the devil and forcibly held him down. “Spare me Sir”, begged the devil, “I have something to say to you.” The hermit let him go. Then spoke Satan; “I think God has not commanded you to do this thing. You do not worship the tree, you are not responsible for the sins of others. If God wills it he will send some prophet, and they are so many, who would carry out his order. So I think it is not your duty, why then trouble yourself?” “But I belong to the chosen people of Yahweh, and I am in duty bound to do so”, replied the hermit. Whereupon they again began to wrestle and eventually Satan was thrown down. “O! I see” cried Satan.
“An idea has just come into my mind; let me go please, and I will tell you.” Thus obtaining his release, the Evil One addressed him as follows: “Is it not the case that you are poor and have to live on the alms of those who are devoted to you? But in your heart of hearts you would like to shower your bounties on your brethren and neighbours so generous and compassionate is your nature. What a pity that such a noble soul lives on alms”. “You have read my mind aright,” quietly responded the hermit.
“May I hope,” said the Evil One entreatingly, “that you will be pleased to accept two golden dinars which you will find at your bed side every morning from tomorrow. You will then be relieved of depending on others and be in a position to do charity to your poor relations and brethren.
As for that wretched tree, what if that be cut down. Surely your poor needy brethren would get nothing and you would lose the opportunity of helping them while the tree would grow again”. The hermit pondered over these words and said to himself “This old man speaks quite reasonably, but let me think over the pros and cons of the case. Am I a prophet? No, I am not; therefore I am not bound to cut it down. Am I commanded to do so? No. Then if I do not do it I shall not be guilty of the iniquity.
Should I accept his proposal? No doubt from the religious point of view it is more useful. No doubt. I think I should accept it: yes, I must.”
Thus the two pledged their words and the hermit returned. Next morning he found the two dinars at his bed side and was highly pleased. Another morning the glittering gold was there, but on the third morning the hermit searched for them in vain. His fury knew no bounds. He rushed for his axe, and hurried with it towards the place of idolatry. Satan again met him in the way as before. “Thou wretch, thou arch-devil”, cried out the hermit “wilt thou prevent me from my sacred duty?” “You cannot do it, you dare not do it”, retorted the Evil one. “Hast thou forgotten the test of my powers”, sharply replied the infuriated hermit and rushed at him. But to his great discomfort and humiliation the hermit instantly fell flat on the ground like a dry leaf from a tree. The devil planted his foot on his chest, holding him by the throat, dictating the following terms: “Either swear not to touch that tree or be prepared to die”. The hermit finding himself quite helpless said, “I swear, but tell me why I am so discomfitured”. “Listen”, answered Satan. “At first thy wrath was for God’s sake, and zealous vindication of his commandments. Hence I was defeated, but now thou art furious for thyself, and worldly gain”. The story illustrates the saying “I will certainly cause them all to deviate from the way except thy servants from among those who are sincere”. A devotee cannot be immune from Satan’s temptation except by sincerity and therefore saint Maaruf of Karkh used to upbraid himself, saying: “If thou wishest salvation, be sincere”.
Yacub, the Sufi, says: “He who conceals his virtues like vices, is sincere.” In a dream a man saw a Sufi who was dead and inquired about the actions of his previous life. “All those actions” said the Sufi, “which were for God’s sake I was rewarded for, even the least of them. For example, I had thrown aside a pomegranate’s peel from the thoroughfare.
I found my dead cat but lost my ass worth one hundred dinars, and a silken thread on my cap was found on the side of iniquities. Once, I gave something in charity, and was pleased to see people looking at me,—this action has neither reward nor punishment for me”. “How is it that you got your cat and lost your ass?” said the man to the Sufi. “Because”, responded the latter, “When I heard of the death of my ass I said: ‘Damn it’. I ought to have thought of God’s will”. Saint Sufyan Saori, when he heard of this dream, said, “The Sufi was fortunate as no punishment was meted out to him for that charity which pleased him when people watched him”.
There is a report that a man, putting on a woman’s dress used to frequent purdah parties in marriage and funeral processions. Once a lady’s pearl was lost in a party. Everybody was being closely searched, and the man was very much afraid of the disclosure of his identity, as it would mean the loss of his life. He sincerely repented in his heart, never to do the same thing again, and asked God’s forgiveness and help. Then he found that it was now the turn of himself and his companion to be searched. His prayer was heard, the pearl being found in his companion’s clothes and he was saved.[57] A Sufi narrates the following story: “I joined a naval squadron which was going on holy war (Jehad). One of us was selling his provision bag, and I bought it, thinking it would prove useful in the war, and that when the war was over I might dispose of it with profit. That same night I dreamt that two angels came down from heaven. One of them said to the other: Make a complete list of the crusaders. The other began to write down: So and so goes on a trip; so and so for trading, so and so for reputation; so and so for God’s sake. Then he looked at me saying: Put this man down as trader. But I spoke: For God’s sake do not misrepresent me. I am not going for business. I have no capital, I have simply started for the holy war. “But Sir”, said the angel “Did you not buy that provision bag yesterday, and were you not thinking of making some profit?” I wept and entreated them not to put me down as a trader. The angel looked at the other, who said: “Well, write thus: This man set out for the holy war, but on the way bought a provision bag for profiting: now God will judge the man”.
Saint Sari Saqati says: “Two rakats of prayer offered with sincerity in seclusion are better than copying seventy or seven hundred traditions with the complete list of authorities. Some say that one moment’s sincerity is salvation, but it is very rare. Knowledge is the seed, practice is the crop, and sincerity is the water nourishing it. Some say that God’s displeasure is revealed in a person who is given three things; and is denied the same number. He gets access into the society of the virtuous, but derives no benefit therefrom. He performs good actions but lacks sincerity. He learns philosophy but fails to understand truth.”
Says Susi: “God looks to sincerity only, and not to the action of his creatures”. Says Junaid: “There are some servants of God who are wise, who act as wise men, who are sincere when they act, then sincerity leads them to virtue.” Mohammed, son of Said Marwazi, says: “The whole course of our actions tends towards two principles, viz. (1) His treatment meted out to thee; (2) thy action for him. Then willingly submit to what is meted out to thee and be sincere in all thy dealings. If thou art successful in these two things thou shalt be happy in both the worlds”.
Says Sahl: “Sincerity means that all our actions or intentions—all the states of our minds whether we are doing anything or at rest, be solely for God.” But this is very difficult to acquire as it does not in the least attract the ego itself. Rowim says: “Sincerity means disregard of recompense for action in both the worlds”. In this he wishes to point out that the gratifications of our sensuous desires whether in this world or the next are all insignificant and low. He who worships God in order to attain joy in paradise is not sincere. Let him act for God’s “Riza”. This stage is reached by Siddiks (Sincerely devoted to God), and is sincerity _par excellence_. He who does good actions for fear of hell or hope of heaven is sincere in as much as he gives up at present his sensual worldly enjoyment, but wishes for the future, the gratification of his appetite and passion in paradise. The longing of true devotees is their Beloved’s Riza. It may be objected here that men’s motive is pleasure, that freedom from such pleasures is a purely divine attribute.
But this objection is based on misunderstanding. It is true that man desires pleasure but pleasure has different meanings. The popular view is gratification of sensuous desires in Paradise but it has no idea of the nature of higher pleasures of communion and beatitude or the vision of God, and hence fails to consider them as pleasures. But these are the pleasures and he who enjoys them will not even look to the popular pleasures of Paradise for his highest pleasure. His summum bonum is the love of God.
Tufail says: “To do good for men’s sake is hypocrisy; not to do is infidelity; sincere is he who is free from both and works for God only”.
These definitions suggest the ideal of sincerity aimed at by noble souls.
Let us now look to the practical side of it for the sake of the average man.
Actions make an impression on the heart, and strengthen that quality of it which served as a stimulus for them. For example, hypocrisy deadens the heart and godly motive leads to salvation. Both of them will gather strength in proportion to the actions which proceed from their respective sources. But as they are intrinsically opposed to each other an action which gets an equal stimulus at one and the same time will be stationary in its effect on the heart. Now take a mixed action which draws the doer nearer to virtue, say, by one span, but removes him away by two spans, the inward result of his progress will be that he would remain where he was, although he would be rewarded or punished according to his motive.
A man starts for “Haj” but takes with him some articles for trade, he will get his reward of pilgrimage but if his motive was trade only, he could not be considered a “Haji”. A crusader who fights for his religion would have his recompense although he acquires booty, for so long as his sole motive is to uphold the cause of religion the latent desire of booty would not come in the way of his recompense. Granted that he is inferior to those noble souls who are wholly absorbed in Him “who see through Him, who hear through Him, who act through Him,” (Hadis) He still belongs to the good and the virtuous. For if we apply the highest standard to all, religion will be considered a hopeless task, and will ultimately be reduced to pessimism.
At the same time we must sound a note of warning for those who are satisfied with the low standard. They are very often deceived. They consider their motive is purely for God’s sake while in reality they aim at some hidden sensuous pleasure. Let a doer, after he has exerted himself and pondered over his motive, be not over-confident of his sincerity. With the fear of its rejection let him hope for its acceptance—this is the creed of the righteous who fears the Lord and hopes from him.
THE NATURE OF LOVE[58] Experiences are either agreeable and therefore desired or disagreeable and avoided. Inclination towards a desired object when deeply rooted and strong constitutes love. Knowledge and perception of the beloved is the first requisite for love which is consequently divided according to the division of the five senses each of which is inclined towards its desired object. Thus the eye apprehends beautiful forms, the ear harmonious sounds, etc. This kind of experience we share with the animals. There is, however, one more sense, peculiar to man, which delights the soul. The prophet has said: “I desire three things from your world, sweet smell, tender sex, and prayer, which is the delight of my eye”. Now prayer is neither smelt nor touched—in fact its delight is beyond the scope of the five senses and yet it has been described as the “delight of my eye”, which means the inner eye—the soul with her sixth sense. Concepts of this special sense are more beautiful and charming than sensuous objects—nay, they are more perfect and strongly attract the soul. Is it not, then, possible, that One who is not perceived by the five senses may yet be found and felt attractive by that sense and loved by the soul?
Let us now enumerate the circumstances which excite love. 1. Every living being first of all loves his own self, that is to say, the desire for continuity of his existence as opposed to annihilation is innate. This desire is augmented by the desire of the perfection of his self by means of sound body, wealth, children, relations and friends. For all of these serve as a means to the end of the continuity of his self and therefore he cherishes love for them. Even “unselfish” love of his dear son, if probed, smacks of love for the continuity of his self, because his son who is part of his self serves as a living representative of his self’s continuity.
2. The second cause is the love for one’s benefactor towards whom the heart is naturally attracted. Even if he be a stranger, a benefactor will always be loved. But it must be remembered that the benefactor is loved not for himself, but for his beneficence, the extent of which will be a dominating factor in determining the degree of love.
3. The third cause is love of beauty. It is generally supposed that beauty consists in red and white complexions, well proportioned limbs, and so forth, but we can also say “beautiful writing”, “beautiful horse”, etc. Hence beauty of an object consists in its possession of all possible befitting perfections. It will vary in proportion to the perfections attained. That writing in which all the rules of caligraphy are properly observed will be called beautiful and so on. At the same time there can be no one standard for judging the beauty of different objects. The standard for a horse cannot be the same for, say, writing or man. It must also be remembered that beauty is not connected with sensible objects only but is also related to concepts. A person is not always loved for his external beauty, but often the beauty of his knowledge or virtues attracts the heart. It is not necessary that the object of such kind of love be perceived by the senses. We love our saints, imams, and prophets but we have never seen them. Our love for them is so strong that we would willingly lay down our lives for upholding their good name. If we wish to create love for them in young minds we can produce it by giving graphic accounts of their virtues.
Stories of the heroes of any nation will excite love for them.
“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind”.
4. The fourth cause is a sort of secret affinity between two souls, meeting and attracting each other. It is what is called “love at first sight”. This is what the prophet meant when he said “The souls had their rendezvous: Those who liked each other, then love here; those who remained strangers then do not join here”. If a believer goes to a meeting where there are a hundred manafiks (hypocrites) and one momin (faithful) he will take his seat by the side of the momin. It seems that likes are attracted by their likes. Malik bin Dinar says: Just as birds of the same feather fly together two persons having a quality common to both will join.[59] Let us now apply these causes and find out who may be the true object of love. First, man who is directly conscious of his own self in whom the love for continuity of the self is innate, if he deeply thinks on the nature of his existence will find that he does not exist of his own self, nor are the means of the continuity of his self in his power.
There is a being, self-existent, and living who created and sustains him. The Quran says: “There surely came over man a period of time when he was not a thing that could be spoken of. Surely we have created man from a small life germ uniting. We mean to try him, so we have made him hearing, seeing. Surely we have shown him the way, he may be thankful or unthankful.”[60] This contemplation will bear the fruit or love for God. For how could it be otherwise when man loves his own self which is dependent on Him, unless he be given up to the gratification of his passions and thereby forgetting his true self and his sustainer.
Secondly, if he thinks over the aim and scope of beneficence, he will find that no creature can show any purely disinterested favour to another because his motive will be either 1. praise or self-gratification for his generosity, or 2. hope of reward in the next world or divine pleasure.[61] Paradoxical though it sounds, deep insight into human nature leads us, inevitably to the conclusion that man cannot be called “benefactor”, in as much as his action is prompted by the idea of gain and barter. A true benefactor is one who in bestowing his favours has not the least idea of any sort of gain. Purely disinterested beneficence is the quality of the All-merciful Providence and hence He is the true object of love.
Thirdly, the appreciation of inward beauty, that is to say the contemplation of any attractive quality or qualities of the beloved causes a stronger and more durable love than the passionate love of the flesh. However such a beloved will still be found lacking in beauty from the standpoint of perfection because the three genders are creatures and therefore cannot be called perfect. God alone is perfect beauty—holy, independent, omnipotent, all-majesty, all-beneficent, all-merciful. With all this knowledge of His attributes we still do not know Him as He is.
The prophet says: “My praise of Thee cannot be comprehensive, Thou art such as wouldst praise Thyself”.[62] Are not these attributes sufficient to evoke love for him? But beatitude is denied to the inwardly blind.
They do not understand the attitude of the lovers of God towards Him.
Jesus once passed by some ascetics who were reduced in body. “Why are you thus”? he said to them. And they replied “Fear of hell and hope of heaven have reduced us to this condition”. “What a pity”, rejoined Jesus, “your fear and hope is limited to creatures”. Then he went onward and saw some more devotees, and put the same question. “We are devoted to God and revere him for his love”, they replied with downcast eyes. “Ye are the saints” exclaimed Jesus, “you will have my company”.[63] Fourthly, the affinity between two souls meeting and loving each other is a mystery, but more mysterious is the affinity between God and his loving devotee. It cannot and must not be described before the uninitiated.
Suffice it to say that the souls possessing the higher qualities of beneficence, sympathy, mercy, etc. have that affinity hinted at in the following saying of the prophet: “Imitate divine attributes”. For man has been created in the image of God, nay he is, in a way, akin to Him, says the Quran. “And when the Lord said to the angels: Surely I am going to create a mortal from dust, so when I have made him complete, and breathed into him of My Ruh (soul), fall down making obeisance to him”.[64] It is this affinity which is pointed out in the following tradition: God said to Moses “I was sick and thou didst not visit Me”. Moses replied “O God, thou art Lord of heaven and earth: how couldst thou be sick?” God said “A certain servant of mine was sick: hadst thou visited him, thou wouldst have visited me”. Therefore our prophet Mahommed has said: “Says God: My servant seeks to be near me that I may make him my friend, and when I have made him my friend, I become his ear, his eye, his tongue.”[65] It must, however, be remembered that mystical affinity vaguely conceived leads to extremes. Some have fallen into abject anthropomorphism; others have gone so far as to believe in the airy nothings of pantheism. These are all vagaries of the imagination, whether they take the form of “Ibn Allah”, (Son of God) or “Anal Haq” (I am God).[66] They are to a great extent responsible for the evils of superstition and scepticism.
These four causes when properly understood, demonstrate that the true object of our love is God and therefore it has been enjoined: “Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind”.[67] Man’s highest happiness The constitution of man possesses a number of powers and propensities, each of which has its own distinctive kind of enjoyment suited to it by nature. The appetite of hunger seeks food which preserves our body and the attainment of which is the delight of it, and so with every passion and propensity when their particular objects are attained.
Similarly the moral faculty—call it inward sight, light of faith or reason—any name will do provided the object signified by it is rightly understood—delights in the attainment of its desideratum. I shall call it here the faculty of reason (not that wrangling reason of the Scholastics and the dialecticians)—that distinctive quality which makes him lord of creation. This faculty delights in the possession of all possible knowledge. Even an expert in chess boastfully delights in the knowledge of the game however insignificant it may be. And the higher the subject matter of our knowledge the greater our delight in it. For instance we would take more pleasure in knowing the secrets of a king than the secrets of a vizier. Now delights are either (a) external, derived from the five senses, or (b) internal, such as love of superiority and power, love of the knowledge, etc. enjoyed by the mind. And the more the mind is noble the more there will be a desire for the second kind of delights.
The simple will delight in dainty dishes, but a great mind leaving them aside will endanger his life and his honour and reputation from the jaws of death. Even sensuous delights present an amusing example of preference. An expert in chess while absorbed in playing will not come to his meals though hungry and repeatedly summoned, because the pleasure of check-mating his adversary is greater to him than the object of his appetite. Thus we see that inward delights and they are chiefly love of knowledge and superiority are preferred by noble minds. If then a man believes in a perfect being, will not the pleasure of His contemplation be preferred by him and will it not absorb his whole self? Surely the delights of the righteous are indescribable, for they are even in this life, in a paradise which no eye has seen and no ear has heard.
Abu Sulaiman Darani,[68] the renowned Sufi, says: “There are servants of God whom neither fear of hell nor the hope of heaven can deviate from the divine love, how can the world with its temptations come in their way?”.
Abu Mahfuz Karkhi was once asked by his disciples: “Tell us what led you to devotion” but he kept quiet. “Is it the apprehension of death.” said one of them. “It matters little” replied the saint “Is it due to hell or to paradise”, inquired another. “What of them” said the saint “both belong to a supreme Being, if you love him you will not be troubled by them”. Saint Rabia[69] was once asked about her faith: “God forbid”, answered Rabia: “If I serve him like a bad labourer thinking of his wages only”. And then she sang: “Love draws me nigh, I know not why”. Thus we see that the hearts of those who ate and drank and breathed like us felt delights of divine love which was their highest happiness.
If we think over man’s gradual development we find that every stage of his life is followed by a new sort of delight. Children love playing and have no idea of the pleasures of courtship and marriage experienced by young men, who in their turn would not care to exchange their enjoyments for wealth and greatness which are the delights of the middle aged men who consider all previous delights as insignificant and low. These last mentioned delights are also looked upon as unsubstantial and transitory by pure and noble souls fully developed.
The Quran says: “Know that this world’s life is only sport and play and boasting among yourselves, and vying in the multiplication of wealth and children”. “Say, shall I tell you what is better than these? For the righteous are gardens with their Lord, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them and pure mates and Allah’s pleasure and Allah sees the servants”. “Those who say: Our Lord, surely we believe, so forgive us our faults, and keep us from the chastisement of fire; the patient and the truthful and the obedient and those who spend (benevolently) and those who ask forgiveness in morning times”.[70] Let us now point out some drawbacks which hinder the path of the divine love.
Man from his infancy is accustomed to enjoy sensual delights which are firmly implanted in him. Blind imitation of the creed with vague conception of the deity and his attributes fails to eradicate sensual delights and evoke the raptures of divine love. It is the dynamic force of direct contemplation of his attributes manifested in the universe that can prove an incentive for his love. To use a figure: a nation loves its national poet, but the feeling of one who studies the poet will be of exceeding strong love. The world is a masterpiece; he who studies it loves its invisible Author in a manner which cannot be described but is felt by the favoured few. Another drawback which sounds like a paradox, should be deeply studied. It is as follows: when we find a person writing or doing any other work, the fact that he is living will be most apparent to us: that is to say, his life, knowledge, power and will will be more apparent to us than his other internal qualities, e.g. colour, size, etc. which being perceived by the eye may be doubted. Similarly stones, plants, animals, the earth, the sky, the stars, the elements, in fact everything in the universe reveals to us the knowledge, power and the will of its originator. Nay, the first and the foremost proof is our consciousness, because the knowledge that I exist is immediate,[71] and more apparent than our perceptions. Thus we see that man’s actions are but one proof of his life, knowledge, power and will, but with reference to God the whole phenomenal existence with its law of causation and order and adaptability bears testimony of him and his attributes.
Therefore, He is so dazzlingly apparent that the understanding of the people fails to see Him just as the bat pereeaes at night fails to see in daylight, because its imperfect sight cannot bear the light of the