Blessings of Prayer — Page 24
Barak a tud Du‘ a 24 Sayyid Sahib’s other book, Ta h r i r f i U su lit Tafs i r 12 stands in complete contrast to the first. It would seem that Sayyid Sahib had written these books in a delirium. In his book which deals with the acceptance of prayers, Sayyid Sahib gives precedence to Taqd i r [Predestination] and considers natural means to be useless, and it is on this ground that he goes on to deny that prayers are ever accepted, whereas the fact is that prayer is one of the natural means about which more than one hundred thousand Prophets and tens of millions of saints have given their testimonies. 13 What else did the Prophets possess, but prayer! In this second book, Sayyid Sahib does not seem to consider Predetermination to be of any importance for 12 On the Principles of Commentary of the Holy Quran. [Publishers] 13 For the benefit of the reader, I wish to reproduce the text and translation of what Qutub-e-Rabb a n i and Ghauth-e-Sub ha n i* Sayyid Abdul Qadir Ji l ani ra has written in his book Fut uh ul Ghaib , regarding the effect of the prayers and attention of the perfect men of God, based upon his own personal experiences. The meaning of the following excerpt is that the only testimony recognized in any field is that of a person who is well experienced in that particular field. Thus, only the person who enjoys a relationship of true sincerity and love with God can truly understand the philosophy of the acceptance of prayer. Therefore, to enquire about this holy philosophy from Sayyid Ahmad Khan Sahib is like seeking the remedy of a human illness from a veterinary surgeon. If Sayyid Sahib were to expound the relationship between a worldly government and its subjects, Contd… * Qutub-e-Rabb ani and Ghauth-e-Sub hani are titles signifying the spiritual status of Sayyid Abdul Qadir Ji l ani ra. [Publishers]