Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 98
98 state and experience has an outward manifestation, the perfect realization of God or, in other words, union with God, has also its outward manifestation by which other people as well as the person concerned himself realize his relationship with God. It is obvious that when two things approach each other the peculiar quality of one affects the other. For instance, a person who approaches fire begins to feel its heat, and a person who approaches ice begins to feel cold. Similarly, if a person handles perfume, his body or his clothes begin to emit its fra- grance, and if he is near another person who speaks, he can hear him. In the same way, it is necessary that a person who attains to a stage of union with God should manifest qualities which show that he has attained to that state of blessedness. For, if there is nothing more than a mere assertion, how can we distinguish between the claims of an impostor and a righteous servant of God, and what benefit can people derive from seeing or associating with the latter? Islam has described three stages of union with God, which can be distinguished by their manifesta- tions. They are the proof of a man having attained to union with God, and they are also the means of increas- ing one’s belief in God. The first stage is that of accep- tance of prayer; the second of revelation, and the third in which man becomes a manifestation of Divine attrib- utes. Islam teaches that acceptance of prayer is a means of enabling men to attain union with God. When a man prays to God his prayers are accepted, provided