Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 26
26 who has any access to certain knowledge regarding the Divine Being, dare not go against His will. If the owner of the house knows that a heavy flood is sure to sweep away his house or that it has caught fire and a very small space is. left, he cannot stay in the house. How do you. then, not withstanding 'your preten- tious to certainty as to the reward and punishment of good and evil deeds, remain in the dangerous condition in which you are ? Open your eyes and consider the Divine laws which you see working, in the world. Be not the rats which go downwards but be the pigeons which fly upwards and ascend into the height of the heaven. Do not turn to sin after you have sworn repentance and be not like the serpent which after stripping off its skin is still the same old serpent. Remember death for it is coming nearer you and you are unaware of its approach. Try to purify v ; yourselves for no one who is not himself purified can see the Holy One. But hovy can you find this blessing? Almighty God Himself has shown you the way and said * ^ J jy-*) k )y**^ ) j w' Seek the assistance of God with patience and with prayer. " Prayer must be addressed to God with true humbleness of heart and must contain the praise and sanctification of God, istiglifar and the invoking of Divine blessings on the Holy Prophet. When you say your prayers do not like the ignorant deem it a sin to utter words in your prayer in any but the sacred language. ^ Their istiglifar and prayers are only lifeless ceremonies. There- fore, when you say your prayers, address your supplications to v/ God with humility and subrnissiveness in your own language, reciting the passages of the Holy Quran which is the Word of God and the prayers taught by the Holy Prophet in the 'Arabic language, for when you pray to God in your own language, your words have greater efficacy arid your hearts, as they realize the depth of the meaning of these words, bow down before God with greater submission (Vol. H. E. R 1903).