Allah The Exalted — Page 56
5 light. His countenance appears as if it had been washed by the rain of Divine love and his tongue partakes fully of this freshness. All his limbs exhibit a brightness, as after a spring shower an attractive freshness is revealed in the branches, leaves, flowers and fruits of trees. The body of a person on whom this spirit has not de- scended and who has not been refreshed by it is like a corpse. This freshness and joyousness cannot be de- scribed in words and can never be acquired by the dead heart which has not been refreshed by the fountain of the light of certainty. On the contrary, it stinks. But the one who has been bestowed this light, and inside whom this fountain has burst forth, exhibits as one of his signs that all the time and in everything, in every word and in every action, he receives power from God. This is his delight and his comfort and he cannot live without it. [Review of Religions-Urd u , Vol. I, pp. 186-187] Perfect praise is offered for two kinds of excellences, fullness of beauty and fullness of beneficence. If anyone possesses both these excellences, one's heart becomes enamoured of him. The principal function of the Holy Qur’ a n is to display both these excellences of God, so that people may be drawn towards that Being Who has no equal or like, and should worship Him with the eager- ness of their souls. For this purpose, in the very first chapter, it sets out the excellences of the God to Whom it invites people. That is why this chapter opens with Al h amdu lill a h , which means that all praise belongs to the Being Whose name is All a h. In the idiom of the Qur’ a n, All a h is the name of the Being Whose excellences have reached the perfection of beauty and beneficence, and Who suffers from no deficiency. The Holy Qur’ a n in-