Blessings of Khilafat — Page 179
Objects of Human Life 179 At this stage, man is not only an embodiment of Divine attributes, his spiritual progress attains to a point where he severs his ties with all other things beside God, and one cannot reach God except through him. In short, these are the stages of man’s spiritual senses which God has illustrated in the Holy Quran. The more one excels in them, the more his spiritual station is raised. The Holy Prophet sa had attained to such a high stage of spiritual progress that he described it as: or that ‘my eyes asleep, but my heart is always awake. ’ He would sleep sometimes, but then offer the prayers without making ablution. His heart was blessed with such transcendent spiritual enlightenment that his senses would remain absolutely pure even while asleep. That is why when he was asked why he had started the prayer without making ablution, whereas before that he was snoring during the sleep. He said, ‘My eyes sleep, but the heart remains awake. ’ He would always be in such a state of vision that many a time he would get to know the inner state of the hearts of those offering prayers behind him. This is evident from the authentic a ha d i th. Hence, when in such a state of spiritual enlightenment, one can never suffer remissness. God has thus spoken of this stage: 29 29 S u rah an-Najam , 53:4 – 5