Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 281
APPE N DI X to B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 281 their humbleness also disappeared so much so that I heard that some atheists, who had—at that moment—believed in God, brazenly and shamelessly declared that they had been mistaken and overawed by the earthquake, but that otherwise there was no God. In short, as I have written several times earlier, the state of humility and awe can be accompanied by much impurity. Of course, this state is like a seed for future excellences, but to consider this state to be per- fection in itself amounts to self-deception, because there is a stage after this that a believer should seek and must not rest content or become lax until he has attained it. And it is this stage which is described in the Word of Allah as: 1 َو َنْيِذَّلا ْمُه ِنَع ِوْغَّللا َنْوُضِرْعُم That is, believers are not just those people who adopt humility in their Prayers and exhibit tender emotions. Rather, greater believers are those believers who, in addition to their humility, meekness, and anguish, also keep away from all vain things, deeds, and relationships. They do not allow their state of humility to be wasted by contaminating it with the frivolous; rather, they are naturally averse to all vain pursuits and a repugnance develops in their hearts for all frivolous suggestions and deeds. This is evidence of the fact that they have acquired a certain rela- tionship with God Almighty, for man turns away from one thing only after he has established a connection with another. So man’s heart only grows cold towards frivolous things, deeds, entertainment, merriment, and companionship when it has attached itself to the Merciful God and is overwhelmed by His majesty and fear. And so is the sperm saved from being wasted once it has become linked to the رحم [ ri h m —womb] and comes under its influence, at which stage it comes to be called عَلَقَة [ ‘alaqah—‘ clot’]. Thus, the second stage of the spiritual being, 1. S u rah al-Mu’min u n, 23:4 [Publisher]